Warrior of the Mind
by Soilder
Summary: The mind is the most powerful weapon a warrior can have. For some it is a better weapon than most.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Pre-story Author's Note: This Fic was inspired by two other fics, Wild Knight and A Different Type of Visitor. I would like to thank the authors DarkJackeland enlu-tarsonis for the idea and their stories.

A strange pair of individuals trudged their way through the Chinese wilderness. From their attire one could easily see that they were a pair of traveling Martial Artists. What would surprise a person would be that this pair was father and son. The father and son shared only one physical characteristic, black hair. Other than that both were very different; the father was fat the boy was lean, the father had beady black eyes that showed cowardice deviousness and stupidity and the son had normal sized blue eyes that held confidence, bravery and a hidden intellect that was waiting to be revealed.

Currently the two travelers were looking for a rumored training ground so that they could finish the last leg of their training journey. The problem was the father who was in charge of the journey had no idea how to get to the training ground and did not bother to higher a guide. For the past three days the pair had been circling the same area looking for a trail that would lead to their destination. "Danm it Pops!" the son yelled. "Were is this supposed trainin' ground?"

"Quiet Boy!" the father yelled back. "I know what I'm doing!"

"No ya don't ya fat idiot!" the son replied.

"Looks like I need to teach you to respect your elders Boy!" the father yelled yet again. He did not wait for a response from his son and leapt at the teenage boy with a flying kick. The son blocked then countered with his own kick and soon the two were fighting back and forth in an impressive display of Martial Arts prowess for several minutes until the son knocked the father through some underbrush.

"Hey Pops ya ain't done are ya?" the son asked. "Don't tell yer gettin' to old are ya?"

"Boy I found the trail," the father said ignoring the jab on at his age. "Come on Boy let's get moving!" The son grumbled getting even more lost than before following his father into the underbrush.

An hour later the father and son actually made it to their destination, a small valley with countless springs of various sizes sticking out of them. After a quick look around the training grounds the son frowned, "So this is the trainin' ground. Don't look like much."

"This is the Legendary Training Ground Jusenkyo," the father stated. "The manual said that only the best Martial Artists Train here."

At this point a short, slightly overweight Chinese man wearing a Maoist Uniform came out of a small hut near the springs, "Oh hello Sirs welcome to Jusenkyo," the portly man greeted in broken Japanese.

"Well come on Boy!" the father said jumping up onto one of the bamboo poles, "Time to see what you've learned."

"Right behind you Old Man!" the son jumped up after his father.

"Oh Sirs what you doing?" the Maoist dressed man yelled. "Very dangerous if you fall in spring!"

"I won't go easy on you Boy!" the father said before leaping at his son.

"Just the way I like it Pop!" the boy replied.

The fight an hour ago was an impressive display of Martial Arts prowess. This fight dwarfed the previous fight as the two Martial Artists showed a dazzling display of techniques, aerial maneuvers, strength, speed and balance. Back and forth the two leapt exchanging several blows in the blink of an eye. The fight seemed quite even with the son having the advantage in speed and agility and the father having the advantage in experience and endurance. Finally after fifteen minutes of fighting the son got in one strong side kick and sent the father crashing down into a spring below.

"Ha! Take that Old Man!" the son shouted.

"Oh too bad," the Chinese man said. "Honored Sir fall in Shonmaoniichuan, the Spring of the Drowned Panda. Very tragic story of Panda that drown 2000 years ago. Now he cursed to become Panda." To illustrate his point a Panda jumped out of the Spring wearing the father's Gi and took a strange stance, at least for a Panda.

"What the Hell?" the son shouted at the sight of his father. The father seeing his son off guard resumed his attack from earlier. "Hey! Pop! Cut it out!" the boy was trying to calm his father down and cease his attack. Like so many times before, however, the Panda that was the boy's father refused to listen to anyone other than himself. To him his Son's reluctance to fight meant he just needed to push the boy more.

The Son was able to avoid one or two swings from his Panda of a Father but the sheer relentlessness and increased side and reach of the father caused by the transformation eventually one out and the boy was struck sending him down into the water below. Now it was the father's turn to gloat, but when he attempted to speak all that came out was, "Growl." Startled by his own lack of words the father finally took a moment to look at his new body. Seeing that he was covered in white and black fur the Panda turned to the only person in the area, "Growl!"

The Chinese man was too busy looking at the spring that the son had fallen into, "Young Sir fall into rare spring, Naohaiwanquniichuan, Spring of Drowned Mind Warper. Very tragic story of one drown that would warp minds, seven hundred years ago. Now Young Sir take form one that could warp others minds, I think." This last part was added because in the entire history of this spring no one had fallen into it. This was because it was a very small spring, only just big enough for a person to fall into. Also with it being located next to a Curse Spring that drew many people towards it, this spring was often bypassed. This time the Springs seemed to have chosen the boy to fall into this seldom used spring for a reason only known by Jusenkyo.

When the boy surfaced he looked no different that when he went in. The Chinese man concluded that the spring was one of the ones that did not alter the person physically but mentally instead, like the Zhengyinannichuan, the Spring of the Drowned Righteous Man. The boy looked incredibly dizzy when he tried to climb out of spring he fell onto the back groaning. "Stupid Pops," the boy said before passing out.

When the boy seemingly came too he found that he was in a pure white room without any kind of features what so ever. After spinning around trying to find something other than white the boy asked, "What is this place?"

"This is your mind kid," a voice said behind him. The boy spun around and took a defensive stance only to see a man that looked to be American in his mid to late twenties standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Who're ya?" the boy demanded.

"Before we get to introductions you think you could make this place a little more pleasant?" the American asked.

"How'd I do that?" the boy asked, he truth he wanted a different location himself. He was getting sick from all the white.

"Just think of the place you're most comfortable in," the man suggested. The boy complied and the white started to shift and warp until he changed into a standard Japanese Dojo. "A Martial Arts Dojo, I like it and it's rather appropriate for what we need to discuss."

"And what's that and who're ya?" the boy asked again.

"My name is Jake," the American answered. "And I don't have a last name, never needed one. As to what we need to discuss, it has to do with the spring that you fell into. You see the way Jusenkyo works is that when a person or animal drowns in one of the springs it makes a copy of it. That copy can be a physical copy, a mental copy, a spiritual copy, copy of the victim's special abilities or any combination of the above. The spring you fell into made a partial mental copy and a special abilities copy of the original person."

"What's that mean?" Ranma asked not really understanding what was going on.

Jake rolled his eyes a bit. "It means that you now have the some of the experiences and the abilities of the person that originally drowned in the spring." Jake waited for a moment to see if Ranma understood what he was saying.

"So ya mean if I drowned in one of them springs a person could look like me or be the best at Martial Arts?" Ranma asked.

Jake smiled at Ranma's understanding. "Exactly!" Jake nodded and smiled.

"So yer the memories of that guy that drowned?" Ranma hazard a guess.

"Correct again Ranma," Jake answered. "I'm glad that idiot you call 'Pop' did not make you entirely like him." Ranma glared at Jake for being compared to his father, Jake however ignored the glare and continued speaking. "Now for the important part. I'm actually the partial memories of how the original Jake learned how to use his powers and a little bit of the historical information he knew. If I wasn't here you're mind would be overwhelmed by the powers and you would end up like vegetable for the rest of your life."

"How'd I end up like rice?" Ranma asked.

"Not that kind of vegetable," Jake replied. "I mean those people that need a bunch of machines that to keep them alive, you know a coma you can't wake up from." Ranma nodded as he shivered in understanding now. He had scene a couple of people like that just after the Neko-ken in the hospital. To the Martial Artist mind set that was the dominant part of Ranma's thinking this was a fate worst than death. "Glad you understand. You see I, kind of act like the cap on one of water bottles that even when opened you need squeeze the bottle the water comes out."

"So ya keep the power that guy ya look like had from puttin' me in a coma," Ranma summarized. Jake nodded yes. "So what kinda guy was Jake? Was he a Martial Artists?"

"Kind of," Jake answered. "He was what known as a Mind Melter that was trained as a Psi-Warrior. Both Mind Melters and Psi-Warriors are powerful Psyches from another dimension."

"Another dimension?" Ranma asked not comprehending the meaning.

"Ok time for a little school lesson," Jake said, to which Ranma groaned, he hated school. "Don't worry it'll be short. To simplify the explanation think of dimensions as rooms in a house and the house the Megaverse. Each room has it's own things and people that in it, some times they are similar to one another, sometimes they are a lot different. The doorways between the rooms, called a Rift, can open allowing travel between rooms, you understand so far?" Ranma thought for a moment then nodded, the imagery was fairly easy to comprehend. "Now some of rooms or dimensions can lead to other dimensions and thus lead to yet more dimensions with more Rifts and then continue on from there for just about forever. In one of these dimensions there is an Earth commonly called Rifts Earth, it's like a central room of a house that leads to many other rooms. Rifts Earth is where Jake came from. He came from a city on that Earth's North America called Psyscape, the City of the Mind's Eye. There they train people born with psychic powers on how to use them. One such method is the Psi-Warrior, and just like their title means they are Warriors or Martial Artists if you will, that use Psychic powers to fight. They use their mind to hit harder, move faster, heal injuries and even create some weapons."

"Ok, I get that. These Psi-Warriors use their Psychic Power instead of their Ki," Ranma said. "But what's a Mind Melter?"

"Actually Psychic power or Psionics is not that much different from Ki, but let's not get into that right now," Jake said. "A Mind Melter is person with incredible Psionic ability. They are naturals when it comes to using their mind to affect the world around them and are very powerful and versatile; usually they learn to use their power on their own through experience, experimentation and trial and error. I or rather Jake was different from other Mind Melters. He was raised by a Psi-Warrior and wanted to be like him so he too trained as a Psi-Warrior. Took him a while to finish because a Psi-Warrior's Training is as much physical as it is mental. Because he was a Mind Melter he was a natural at the mental part but had a hard time with the physical part. Eventually he mastered both and became a Psi-Warrior with the added powers of a Mind Melter. In the end he became a very dangerous enemy to have but a highly valued ally many wanted in battle."

"What's this mean fer me?" Ranma asked.

"It means you kind of inherited his powers of a Mind Melter and legacy as a Psi-Warrior," Jake answered. "Now almost all Psi-Warriors have one thing in common, they protect the weak and innocent whenever can, and they have great respect and tolerance for life but are intolerant of evil, especially super natural evil."

"It's a Martial Artist's duty to protect the weak," Ranma quoted mostly to himself though Jake smiled at the similarities. Bringing himself back to the matter at hand Ranma said, "So let me get this straight. Because I fell inta a Cursed Spring I get a lot of powers that's kinda like Ki ta help protect people."

"Yes," Jake said. "Though the Jusenkyo curses are often only curses in the eye of the beholder so to speak. It is all a matter of how you perceive what happens to you and how you use the altered state."

"Well helpin' people's good an' all but I don't like free power. I think ya should earn yer power," Ranma said.

"Remember what I said earlier about what would happen if I wasn't here?" Jake asked. Ranma nodded remembering the coma part especially. "And while you have the power you will have to train in how to control it. You're kind of the opposite of what Jake was, a natural at physical training but a little lacking in the mental." Ranma grunted in indignation at the assault on his intelligence but made no argument. He knew the mental stuff was not his strongest suit, not that he would ever tell anyone that. "So you don't have to worry about just getting an instant power up, especially with me here, because I'm going to be training you in your Psionic Powers and other things that a Psi-Warrior needs to know."

"How'd Jake get here, anyway?" Ranma asked.

"He and some of his comrades were in a battle against some Magic Users. Part of the group had a couple of guys called Lay Line Walkers," Jake answered. "The fight was not going well for either side and the Magic Users got desperate and ordered the Lay Line Walkers to open a Rift to send Jake and his party away. Jake got caught by the Rift and was transported to this Earth. After wandering around Asia for a few years looking for a way to get back he came to Jusenkyo and Jusenkyo claimed him by drowning him in that pool you fell into."

"I see," Ranma said.

"Any more questions?" Jake asked.

"Just one. When do we start?" Ranma asked excitedly. By Ranma's perspective he was not just going to learn a new technique but an entirely new and very powerful Martial Arts School. And on the plus side he did not have to deal with his father's normal idiocy to learn it.

"We'll start right now with Meditation," Jake said. "It is absolutely essential that you learn to meditate properly as it is the foundation of all Psionic Ability. Once you've mastered that we'll be able move onto the next stage of training. Oh and one more thing, I know you don't like weapons but you should start practicing with them," Jake held out his hand and a glowing blue shaft of energy appeared in it, "You'll need to know how to properly use them when you learn to manifest your Psi-Sword. And that argument about if a weapons user loses their weapon they are at a disadvantage, does not really apply to a person whose weapon can only be removed by their will, does it?"

"No," Ranma answered as his gaze was transfixed on the Psi-Sword. If this was an example of what he would be doing then Ranma vowed to learn everything about being a Psi-Warrior and Mind Melter as soon as possible.

Out in the waking world the Chinese man, the Jusenkyo Guide and Ranma's father, Genma were watching over Ranma as he slept. The Guide explained to Genma how his Curse worked, that warm water changed back him to a human and cold water changed him into the panda. When Genma asked if Ranma would change the Guide said he did not know, as some Curses were permanent. Because Ranma was the first to fall in that particular spring since its creation the Guide had no idea what would happen. The Guide also said that because he did not change physically then they would only learn how the Spring affected him after Ranma woke up because the change would probably be mental.

When Genma asked about a Cure, the Guide informed him that he did not know of any cure but some of the locals might. The Guide said he would take Genma and Ranma to meet the more hospitable ones among the local people once Ranma awoke.

After that matter was settle Genma started to make plans. 'If the Boy's mind has changed then he may not be able to support me once he marries one of Tendo's girls. And what happens if he's not like me then Nodoka might not see him as a man, and then she would…' Genma shivered at the idea of his wife's very sharp family sword, 'I think it would be best if I take the Boy to Tendo's first. Yes that way I can avoid Nodo…I mean observer the Boy to make sure he's good enough to see Nodoka. Yes that's the best option, it'll ensure my retirement and make Nodoka happy.' Genma nodded at this own brilliance, others would say cowardice, in dealing with his potentially volatile wife. 'Now if the Worthless Boy would wake up I can find my cure.'

It was at that instant that Ranma's eyes started open signaling he was awake. 'This is new,' Ranma thought. 'I can already see uses for what I know, especially the 'Push' and 'Lift.' I'll try out the others later.' "Hey Pop what's been happenin'?"

"I'll tell you on the Boy," Genma replied. "Come on we're going to get me a cure." 'He doesn't seem all that different so far.'

"Yes Young Sir," the Guide spoke up, "We go see Amazons they been here long time. Them may know of cure for Honored Sir. We go now that you awake."

"Yeah sure," Ranma said picking up his pack. 'Why do I have a bad feelin' about this?'


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Ranma grumbled as he walked down the street in the Japanese Capital City, Tokyo; or to be more specific one of the city's numerous Wards, Nerima. He had come here from China without his Father because Genma ran into some trouble as they were searching for a cure for the Jusenkyo Curse

(Flash Back)

Ranma and Genma-Panda were following behind the Jusenkyo Guide into a, rather large in all honesty, Chinese village. The Guide had explained that this was the Village Joketsuzoku, Chinese Amazons and that they had been here for several centuries. If anyone knew if there was a cure for the Curse it was they.

As Ranma walked along, he was using some of his new Psionic Powers; to be more precise he was using Resist Hunger and Resist Fatigue. Do to Genma and Ranma getting lost for three days the Saotome pair ran out of food a day before he woke up in the Jusenkyo Guide's Hut. When the hunger started to gnaw on him, Ranma decided to use his Resist Hunger. He found his ability to focus returned to the level it normally would and decided to keep it up until they found some food. He used his Resist Fatigue because he had been up at night practicing his other Psionic Powers, Like Telekinetic Lift and Push. The lack of sleep and the use of the Powers took their toll on his body. With Genma's habit of attacking him at any moment he thought Ranma was being weak, Ranma thought it was prudent to use Resist Fatigue to keep Genma off his back for a bit.

"Oh Sirs you very lucky," the Guide said as the entered the Village. "They have Tournament now. Look like Veteran Fighters today." The Guide was pointing to a large suspended log where two women were fighting one on one.

Ranma observed the pair or women and discovered they both were very skilled in the Art. If he were to guess these two were between twenty-five and thirty-five years old. Both possessed a level of skill that was on par with his own if not greater, not that he would admit it. At the sight of the skilled Martial Artist and the fact that he was not feeling his own hunger Ranma moved closer to the fight and ignored the table full of food just a few meters to his right. Genma not having the benefit of the Psionic Powers and the feeling that any female was weaker than him, completely forgetting that his wife could scare him more than just about anything in the world, and thus not worth noticing was unable to follow his Son's actions. When he spotted the food he lumbered as fast as he could over to it and proceeded to eat his fill.

As Ranma watched one woman: the one with long strait black hair, an athletic figure, and wearing a powder blue silk pants suit; knock the other woman: the one with short green hair, a slightly slimmer body, and a pale violet pants suit; off the log he could not help but clap with the rest of the crowd. The black haired woman showed a rather interesting kick combination that Ranma had not scene before and was very effective. He ideally wondered if she would be willing to teach him the technique after the business with the cure was resolved.

When the victor jumped down from the log the crowd parted and she made her way over to the table with the food, and found Genma-Panda had already eaten half the food. With a scream of anger the woman stomped up to the cursed man and was ready to gut him with her Chinese Broad Sword when suddenly Ranma stepped in front of her blocking her path. "Hey! Wait a second!" Ranma commanded.

"You Outsider Boy!" the woman said in Japanese with a high Mandarin accent. "Why let Panda eat my food?" 'He's not bad, his stance is perfectly balanced,' the woman thought. 'Not to bad looking either, too bad he's too young for me.'

"He ain't a Panda," Ranma answered. "He's my Pop, he's gotten a Jusenkyo Curse."

The woman paused a little at that as she knew what a Jusenkyo Curse could do. "Ok, but him still need be punished!"

Genma-Panda had been listening, and still eating, during the exchange. When he saw the Chinese woman's scowl, sword and all around displeasure at him, it reminded him of his wife back in Japan. Self preservation instincts started to kick in and he started to kick it and ran through a list of possible responses. One, run away; two, blame the boy and get him to take the punishment in his place; three, sell the boy for the meal; four, fight his way out. Option one was out, too many people around to get away. Option three was out because that would only work if Ranma were not around. Option four was also out because Genma was reminded too much of when he fought his wife, not a pretty picture for Genma at the time. That left option two, blame Ranma and let him take the punishment.

Genma-Panda quickly jumped over the table and grabbed Ranma and started to frantically point at the woman and his son trying to get them to understand that Ranma would take his mess. Unfortunately for Genma-Panda, Ranma understood what he was trying to do before the woman did, "No ya don't Pop. Ya made this mess now you haveta clean it up." Ranma then grabbed his father and using Telekinetic Lift tossed him over his shoulder and at the woman's feet. "He's all yours!"

The woman nodded and brought her sword up ready for a fight. With no choice left Genma-Panda stood up, sent a glare a Ranma, then took his own stance. The two fighters then charged one another and quickly engaged in a battle of Martial Arts supremacy.

(End of Flash Back)

Genma had lost the fight, barely, and was knocked by the woman. After that the woman explained to Ranma that his father still had to work of his debt as the amount of food that Genma consumed was too much for a simple fight to satisfy. Ranma understood but unfortunately for him, it was at that point Ranma felt the Resist Hunger and Resist Fatigue give out and he dropped unconscious.

When he woke up the woman, her name Perfume at least that was as close as it could be pronounced in Japanese anyway, from the fight was sitting by the bed he was on. He hand been brought into the house out of concern for his well-being and she had watched over him. Ranma had to admit he was kind of touched by the display of concern at the time. After that the Healer made sure he was fine and Ranma had some food in his stomach he went off to find his Father.

Ranma found Genma working, and grumbling, in one of the fields with several other men. The sight of his father actually doing work was shocking and extremely funny to Ranma because he not once ever remembered Genma doing any kind of labor. When Genma heard his Son's laughter quickly rushed over to him and tried to get Ranma to take over. Ranma did not and said that because it was his own fault he had to pay the due. Genma became angry at that point and was about to attack but was able to restrain himself. Genma then leaned and started whispering about how evil this place was and that Ranma needed to escape as soon as possible. Ranma just scoffed saying that Genma hated this place because they were making him to work, which was true for the most part. At least that was what Ranma believed until he started noticing all the girls around his age giving him weird looks, like they wanted to eat him alive.

After this continued for three days non-stop Ranma finally believed that Genma might have been telling the truth for once. When he found his father in the fields once again Genma explained that he should go on ahead with out him. It would look too conspicuous if both disappeared at the same time and he would catch up to him at his Old Friend's House in Nerima Tokyo. At the time Ranma simply differed to Genma's greater knowledge about getting out of tight spots. If there was one thing Genma was the best at, it was escaping from trouble. That night Ranma snuck out of the Amazon Village and started to make his way back to Japan.

Currently Ranma was grumbling at his Father's stupidly for not giving Ranma the address of this Tendo he was looking for. The problem was that there were six families with the Tendo name in Nerima and Ranma had spent the last two days trying to find the right one. Right now Ranma was looking for the home of the fifth person on the list. "Let's see, the place should be just aroun' that corner," Ranma said looking at the directions he had been given by a local high school girl he asked for directions. He forced himself to improve his speech patterns as Ranma discovered he could get more information if he was polite to people then his old habits. Now Ranma spoke fairly well, not great but well enough that he did not offend anyone, unless they were very stuck up snobs. "Well she did say the place was a Dojo so it's good chance they now Pop. How else would he know someone, other than a restaurant owner he stiffed?"

After readjusting his traveling pack, taking extra special care of his new Chinese Broad Sword he purchased, Ranma continued on his way. If Genma saw Ranma with any kind of weapon he would yell at how weak his son was for using it. But in Ranma's opinion he did not care, he was progressing in his Psionic Powers and already passed the Art of Defense in his Psi-Warrior and was quickly progressing to the Art of Offense where he would learn to manifest his own Psi-Sword. Do to his lack of money and understanding of Chinese it took Ranma three months to return to Japan. In that time he continued his training as a Psi-Warrior and he found it was the most challenging and rewarding training he had ever taken, and he loved it. The powers he gained through the training and his new Mind Melter heritage were amazing. The Psi-Shield, Increase Healing and Psychic Body Field were the most useful so far. The Psi-Shield and Psychic Body Field he could used to stop bandits with guns from harming him when they shot him and he used the Increase Healing on a little girl that had been caught in a land slide to heal her injuries. He finally felt that his Art was being used for something greater than himself now, a feeling he never got with Genma, and he could not wait to progress further.

That was the reason for the Broad Sword. He wanted to be an expert in his Psionic Abilities and the skills that were associated with them. He had already started to learn gather greater knowledge on Anatomy and Physiology so his Healing Psionics that would come later would have greater effect. When Ranma finally manifested his own Psi-Sword he vowed to be an expert swordsman. With the drive in place Ranma had already mastered five Chinese Sword Katas and adapted two Japanese Katas to his new weapon as a result.

In Meditation Ranma would speak with Jake and receive lessons from him that he would practice in the real world. It was in one of these now daily Meditation practices that Jake told him that the Psi-Sword's shape was subject to Ranma's will and he should determine what type of sword he would want. Yielding to practicality over his Japanese Ancestry Ranma decided to forego a Katana and take a Chinese Broad Sword. Ranma felt that the Broad Sword fit his fighting style better than a Katana as the katas for the Broad Sword would incorporate Hand to Hand techniques while most Katana Katas did not. Thus his purchase of his own sword, something he cherished as it was the first thing he got on his own.

After walking around the corner Ranma spotted a good sized traditional Japanese house with rather high walls surrounding it. Moving closer he saw the sign by the front gate, "Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Visitors use the front entrance, Challengers use the side," Ranma read out loud. "It has the same name as our school, this has to be the place!" Ranma was happy that his search was finally over, maybe now he could finally get a decent meal at the very least.

Inside the Tendo Dojo the owner of the property, Tendo Soun, was contemplating the future of his family. Namely he was thinking about his Old Friend, his Old Friend's Son, and the promise to unite the Schools. 'Saotome and his should be finishing his Training Journey Soon,' the Master of the Tendo Dojo thought. 'That means the Schools will finally be joined!' The long dark haired man burst into tears of joy at the thought. 'My Baby Girls will be so happy!'

When a ring from the bell on the front gate reached his ears, Soun immediately stopped bawling like a baby. After a few moments of silence Soun spoke up, "Oh that's right Kasumi went to get some groceries. I guess I'll have to get the door."

Outside the front gate Ranma was just about to ring the bell again when he heard the sound of someone walking towards him from the other side of the wall. Activating his Empathy Ranma waited for the gate to open. Ranma also discovered that when meeting someone new the Psionic Power Empathy always helped him, like learning to speak properly this was another way of avoiding his old habit of sticking his foot in his mouth. When he opened his Empathy he discovered the person on the other side was curious and mildly annoyed, 'Not surprising really,' Ranma thought. 'It is the middle of the day during the week. Most people are either at school or work.'

"Hello there young man," Soun greeted after he opened the gate, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I hope so," Ranma said scratching the back of his head. "My Pop sent me here, well not really here, but to his old friend Tendo's House."

"Well I am Tendo Soun," Soun introduced himself. "Who is you're father? If I know him I'm sure I can help you in some way."

"Well his name Saotome…" Ranma got no further than that before Soun's emotions spiked to uncontrollable joy and an instant after Ranma was being smothered in a bone crushing hug.

"You must be Ranma!" Soun wailed. "Oh I'm so happy to see you! Wah!"

Ranma tried to breath but the pressure on his chest from the hug was suffocating him. "C…Can't br…breath," Ranma choked out. Soun was too wrapped up in his dreams of Uniting Anything Goes to listen and continued to squeeze. The problem with this was that with no one else there, there was no one to stop Soun from suffocating the poor boy.

After thirty seconds of constant pressure Ranma's lungs finally gave out and he fell limp in Soun's embrace. When the Master of the Tendo School of Anything Goes felt Ranma go limp he released his hug, only to see Ranma drop to the ground in a boneless heap, "I wonder why he passed out?" Soun asked out loud. "Maybe Genma hasn't trained him enough?"

A couple of hours later Ranma returned to the waking world. The first sensation he felt was from a damp cloth on his forehead. The next was the voice of a woman speaking to someone, "Father I think he is waking up." After that Ranma opened his eyes and looked up to see a young woman with long brown hair and brown eyes a couple years older than him. "Finally awake I see," the man from earlier came into the room.

"Yeah," Ranma answered. He activated his Empathy again in hopes it would give him some warning if Soun tried to hug him again. 'The girl's feeling concerned and a bit weary about something, and…Tendo…I think that's what he said his name was, is also concerned but there is anticipation and a lot of joy about something as well. I wonder what?'

"How are you feeling?" the young woman asked.

"Fine now," Ranma answered as he sat up. "Um I'm Saotome Ranma, sorry about this."

"No need to be sorry Son," Soun said coming over to them. "This is my Eldest Daughter Kasumi my other daughters are at School at the moment, they are Nabiki and Akane. You'll meet them in…" Soun looked at the wall mounted clock and seemed a bit shocked, "Oh I had not realized it had got so late in the day. Nabiki and Akane will be back with in the hour."

"Ok," Ranma replied. 'Why does he seem disappointed about something?'

'Why isn't he more excited about meeting his future bride?" Soun thought. "Say Ranma where is your Father, Genma?"

'Should I tell him everything, nothing or just something,' Ranma thought. 'He's worried about something, but it doesn't feel like he's worried only about Pop. More like something that has to do with Pop. I don't think I'll tell them everything for now.' "Last I saw him he was still in China," Ranma answered. "We got separated and he said he would meet me here. But that was months ago."

"Did he say anything about why he wanted to meet you here?" Soun asked hoping that Genma mentioned the engagement. 'It would be like Saotome to not mention it until the last minute,' Soun thought, forgetting that he had yet to tell his out children about the arrangement.

'He's planning something,' Ranma concluded. He was feeling anticipation, joy, a bit of deviousness, and just a touch of obsession. "No he didn't. He just said he'd meet me here."

"Oh I see," Soun said. 'Looks like I'll have to take things from here.' "Well we'll discuss that once Nabiki and Akane get home. For now why don't you relax and get cleaned up." Soun turned to his daughter, "Kasumi why don't you show Ranma the furo."

"Yes Father," Kasumi answered standing up, "This way Ranma."

"Yeah thanks," Ranma stood up and followed Kasumi out of the room. 'He's disappointed about Pops, but he's still planning something. This is probably another hair brained scheme Pops thought up that's just going to get me in trouble.' Once Kasumi showed Ranma the furo she excused herself left him alone. 'Well at least for now I can get cleaned up and have a nice long soak. I'll figure out what I'm going to do after my bath.'

Out on the streets of Nerima a pair of girls in school uniforms were casually making their way towards the Tendo Dojo. One had long bluish black hair with black eyes and a scowl on her face and the other short brown hair and dark brown almost black hair with and amused smirk on her face. "Kami!" the girl with the scowl said in anger. "It's bad enough they attack me before school now they're starting after school as well! Just look at my uniform," she gestured to the several dirt stains and bits of grass all over the skirt.

"And here I thought you would like the extra workout, Akane," the brown haired girl commented. "You wouldn't want to get sloppy and have one of them beat you, would you?"

"I can beat those perverts with no problem, Nabiki!" Akane replied. "I AM the best Martial Artist in Nerima!"

"Sure you are," Nabiki returned with a sarcastic comment as she opened the front gate. Akane just huffed and followed her older sister into the house.

Ranma had just finished washing and soaking in the furo and was getting out of the tub. When he was soaking in the tub he deactivated his Empathy to enjoy the heat without distraction. If he kept the Psionic Power activated he would have some warning from the high levels of anger coming from the other side of the inner door. Unfortunately for him there was no warning as the door suddenly opened revealing a dark haired girl holding only a small towel. Ranma being the genius he was said, "Um Hi."

Akane starred at the naked boy that just greeted her for a few seconds before closing the door, backing up, getting dressed, and leaving the furo. When she was out in the hall she screamed, "THERE'S A PERVERT IN THE FURO!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Just before Akane's yell from the furo the Nabiki and Soun were having a meeting in living room. When Akane and Nabiki returned home from school Akane had immediately gone up stairs to wash up and thus missed her Father sitting in the living room crying his eyes out. Nabiki had not been so lucky and had to spend five minutes trying to figure out what Soun was wailing about this time. Through years of practice Nabiki was able to piece together enough of the seemingly incoherent sobs to understand what her father was trying to say. "You're telling me that a boy came here today and that he's part of the other branch of Anything Goes and is also our Fiancé?" Nabiki asked.

Soun could only nod through his tears, now switching from crying about 'the Schools are finally being joined' to 'My Middle Daughter was so smart.' He was so happy that Nabiki understood the situation and new that once he had her support the Pledge would be fulfilled.

Nabiki for her part was at a state of indication. To tell the truth she did not want to be someone's fiancé but she would hardly be against having someone to go out with. 'It's not like me or any of other girls at School have a lot of prospects for Saturday Night. It could be a nice change of pace to go out with someone that doesn't know about me,' Nabiki thought. Her brain the switched from the seldom-used 'Teenage Girl Mode' to the highly often-used 'Mercenary Ice Queen Mode.' 'Depending on how much cash he has will determine whether or not I'm willing to go out with him, if he's even remotely cute then I can at least sell him off to the other girls at school. Either way it'll be good business for…'

"THERE'S A PERVERT IN THE BATHROOM!" Akane yelled before running down the stairs and picking up the heave stone lantern in the yard.

"I guess Akane met him," Nabiki said flatly. As she saw Akane carry the lantern to through the house she decided to stop Akane from damaging her potential merchandise. "Akane Daddy says that guy in the furo is a guest."

That caused Akane to halt mid run and turn to see her crying father and scheming sister. "Why would Dad invite a pervert into the house?" Akane asked.

"And why am I a Pervert?" Ranma asked from the stair well.

"You saw me naked!" Akane yelled. "That makes you a Pervert!"

"That was an accident that you caused by walking in on me, you stupid Tomboy!" Ranma retorted.

"What did you call me?" Akane yelled hefting the stone lantern overhead preparing to strike Ranma down.

"I guess you're a not stupid, Tomboy," Ranma said and for a moment Akane calmed down somewhat. "You're a stupid and deaf Tomboy." Akane was at the brink of meltdown at this point and Ranma just more fuel to the reactor. "And about seeing you naked, don't flatter yourself, you don't have much to look at!"

"Die Pervert!" Akane yelled as she slammed the stone lantern into Ranma's head.

Or at least she tried, as the lantern descended to Ranma's cranium, 'Just because I don't fight girls doesn't mean I'm not going to defend myself!' he thought as he brought his forearm up and manifested his Psi-Shield to block the blow. From his time in China Ranma knew the Psi-Shield could take a hell of a lot of damage. When the lantern impacted against the glowing blue Psionic Energy Construct it shattered in several hundred pieces of debris. "Kami I love this thing," Ranma said before dismissing the Psi-Shield.

The Tendos mouths' were on the floor at the display Ranma showed. Nabiki being the one with the quickest mind in the house was able to recover first. "What the hell was that?" she asked summing up the Akane and Soun's thoughts.

"Just something I picked up in China," Ranma answered.

'Did Genma teach him that?' Soun thought. 'If he did then that technique will be part of the Tendo School as soon as he marries one of my girls. Oh Happy Day, the School of Anything Goes will be propelled to new heights by our children's marriage!'

'I don't know how he did that but I know I can make a fortune off of!' Nabiki thought with yen signs in her eyes. 'Looks like he'll be a long term investment on the plus side he is kind of cute too.'

'Th…that was impossible!' Akane thought. 'He…he must have used some kind of trick. That's the only explanation! That means he cheated!'

'Oh my that was rather messy,' Kasumi thought as she looked at the debris left from the lantern shattering. She had come out when Akane screamed about a pervert wondering what was going on.

Ranma on the other hand was analyzing what he was feeling from the three Tendos in front of him. 'The Father's a mix of joy, excitement, a little greed and even more obsession than before. Kasumi's a bit upset, but more at the mess than anything else. The girl with the brown hair is feeling a lot of greed and a bit of…lust. Uh oh I hate when girls look at me like that.' When Ranma first awakened his Empathy abilities he used it a great deal so he could recognize different emotions with out effort or distraction for later fights. One of the first emotions he felt was lust from a bunch of girls in Hong Kong. At the time he was not able to distinguish what he was feeling and decided to investigate. What happened after was incredibly embarrassing for the, until then, naïve Martial Artist. After extensive Meditations and talks with Jake, he was able to put a word with the feelings and actions those girls had towards him, lust. Even since that encounter Ranma has tried to avoid girls, and even more frightening to him so guys, that showed lust towards him as much as possible. 'And the last one, jealousy, anger and denial. Oh am definitely not staying here. Pop can come find me when he gets to Japan!' "Well um Mr. Tendo, it was nice to meet you and…um…all, but I…ah need to be…leaving now. So when Pop…comes by just tell him I'm…uh," 'Think fast Ranma!' Ranma thought for a legitimate reason to leave this place and an image of a woman holding a small child came to his mind. "Heading to my Mother's grave…yeah that's it. I need to see her and all…so I'll be going now."

Soun came out of his fantasies about the future of Anything Goes when he saw Ranma making his way to where his pack and sword were placed by Kasumi earlier. "Hey wait!" Soun called out. "You must stay!"

'He's desperate,' Ranma thought. "Why's that?" Ranma had not stopped and was strapping on his pack when Soun answered his question.

"It is a matter of Honor," Soun said.

That made Ranma pause. He still had his Honor even if he felt his Father had none. "What do you mean 'it's about Honor'?" Ranma asked.

Soun smiled at his victory. He got Ranma to stay and now the schools would be joined. "Before either you or my girls were born Saotome and I made a solemn promise to unite our Schools through our children by marriage to carry on the legacy of Anything Goes." Soun took the stunned silence as a good sign and decided to continue. "You've already met Kasumi, she's nineteen, Nabiki here is seventeen and Akane is sixteen. Pick anyone you want and she'll be you're new wife!"

"WHAT?" Akane yelled. Nabiki already knew this was coming and nothing every affected Kasumi enough for such an emotional outburst. "I am not marring this Pervert!"

This time it was Ranma's jaw that hit the ground. 'This is what Pop wanted me come here for? So I can meet some fiancé I've never met before! Oh that's it! I'm not going in for anymore of Pop's schemes! I'm not hanging around here that's for sure and wherever Pop is he can just rot!' "I couldn't agree more!" Ranma said looking at Akane. "I wouldn't want to be married to a Psycho Tomboy like you either!" Ranma bent down to pick up his sword as Akane picked up the low table. Seeing the youngest Tendo about to swing at him Ranma activated his Psychic Body Field and let the table crash into him. The table like the stone lantern before broke against Ranma's Psionic Power into several hundred bits of debris. "If Pop comes by tell him I've had enough with him messing with my life and tell him not to bother looking for me because he won't find me!" Ranma did not wait for a response and walked out the door of the Tendo Home.

Once Ranma was down the street he started to think on what he should do. 'Other than continuing my Psi-Warrior training I really don't have a clue,' he thought. 'Back there I said I needed to visit my Mother's grave, that is a pretty good idea. Problem is, where do I start?' Ranma had greatly improved as an individual over the last three months. Being on his own forced him mature on a mental level very quickly. However for all Ranma's improvement he was still rather ignorant about many aspects of the world around him. Fortunately Ranma had a person that he trusted and went to for advise residing inside his head, Jake. 'Guess I need a good place to Meditate. I think that park I came across when I first got here would be a good place.'

Five minutes later Ranma was sitting under a large tree in full lotus position focusing his attention inward. When he felt that familiar sinking feeling of traveling into his own mind end Ranma opened his mental eyes and found himself in the mental Dojo he created when he first met Jake. "So you want to find your Mother's grave?" Jake asked rhetorically. Everything Ranma knew Jake knew; Jake would often give a different perspective for Ranma to think about. "Well this will be a harder than looking for the Tendo place. We knew where the general location was and all we had to do was narrow it down to a list of places and ask for directions. Now all we know is that she's dead, you don't even remember her first name."

"Hey I was only six when Pop took me on the training trip," Ranma said.

"I know, I know," Jake waved it off. "I was just stating a fact. What we need to do is figure out what resources we have access to."

"Well we know Pop said she was dead," Ranma said. "That lady at the library in Hong Kong said that there's lists for all sorts of stuff. Maybe they got a list of graves sites."

"Not a bad idea," Jake said. "You're getting better at planning your next move. But the list grave sites won't help much without a name." Ranma nodded in agreement, a list of information was pretty much useless unless you knew what you were looking for. "We need to find out your Mother's name before we go looking for her grave." Jake then thought for moment, "When calling you a girl wouldn't work Genma would often threaten you with throwing you out of the family and removing you from the Family Register making a Ronin and thus without honor in the eyes of your countrymen. For that to have to be an affective threat it would mean that the Family Registers are open to the public. So the answer if rather simple, find where the public records are kept and look up your Family Register, it'll have a list of who's in you're family alive or deceased."

"Oh man! that's going to be so boring," Ranma complained. "You know before I met you I never had to do this kind of stuff."

"Yeah but you would have also still been a fool under Genma's manipulation," Jake countered. "Hell he might have been able to convince you to marry that pseudo-Burster Tendo back there."

"Good point," Ranma conceded.

"Well you better get back to the outside world," Jake suggested. "The sooner you find you're Mother's grave the sooner you can visit her. Oh and keep training, you're getting closer to the Art of Offense." Ranma nodded to both suggestions and willed himself to outside world.

When Ranma came out of his Meditation he looked around to see how much time had passed. When he Mediated and talked with Jake the time would pass outside his mind at different rates. Sometimes only a couple of minutes passed and sometimes several hours would pass. In this case it looked like only an hour or so had passed. Still it was late in the day when he began so now it was starting to get into early evening and that meant night would fall in a couple of hours. 'Guess I need to find a place to set up camp,' Ranma thought. 'This Park is nice but it's a bit small, people will notice if I set up camp here. Guess I'll find a bigger park.' After an hour of searching, via roof hopping, Ranma found a pretty good-sized park with enough vegetation to cover his camp sight. As an added bonus this park was also near a public bath so when Ranma got up in the morning he could bath properly. 'Well I guess this will do for tonight,' Ranma thought. 'But I need to find some way of making some more money. Maybe I can find a pit fight or something. Well that's for tomorrow, now it's time for some sleep."

The next morning Ranma awoke and started his morning routine. Morning katas with and without his sword, Meditation, a quick breakfast and some bathing at the near by bathhouse. After that was finished he had to decide what he wanted to accomplish today. 'I've got two immediate concerns, finding the Public Records Office and earning some money. Just about everything requires money so I should probably deal with that first. Guess I'll go find some pit fights, their the easy way for me to get money and if I don't cause too much trouble they don't ask too many questions.'

With the day decided Ranma packed up his gear and headed out of the park. While Ranma did not know where pit fights would be held, he did know the usual standard for the set up; abandoned warehouses, the docks, and certain types of bars. Because this was the middle of the city he decided to head for the warehouse district later that night, no pit fight took place during the day. So with the rest of the day free Ranma decided to explore the area.

After half a day of wondering Ranma decided that this part of Nerima was rather boring, he was a good distance away from Furinkan High so he had yet to meet a member of the Kuno Family. "I wish something would happen," Ranma said. Unknown to Ranma his wish was about to be granted.

As Ranma was walking around he started to have an uneasy feeling from something. The uneasy feeling put him on guard and he activated his Empathy and for additional warning he also activated his See Aura. When Ranma started to scan the area he felt a sudden rise in anger and hate. When he focused on the source he saw a man standing about twenty meters away from him. To everyone else this man was a non-descript individual that no one would give a second thought. To Ranma and his Psionic Senses however this man stood out like a sore thumb. The negative emotions coming from the guy drew Ranma's attention but his See Aura singled him out. Ranma's See Aura was telling him that what ever this guy was he was not human, around his strength in power and had some magic ability. This all told Ranma that this being was very dangerous.

The being that Ranma was looking at seemed to feel the same way about him. The being turned and ran away from the crowded street and into the back alleys. Ranma decided to follow what ever this thing was. Ranma knew from his Empathy that the thing was planning something so he decided to make some preparations for the up coming fight. As Ranma ran he unsheathed his sword and Activated his Psychic Body and Psi-Shield. Ranma knew that this would drain his reserves very quickly but he did not plan to draw this fight out. Against a Martial Artist Ranma would fight at his opponent's level to try and learn some new techniques. The thing he was chasing was most certainly not something he wanted to do that with this thing.

When Ranma finally caught up with his target he saw he was in a back ally surrounded by three buildings. This meant that his enemy had planned a trap for Ranma. When Ranma arrived the being was surprised to see Ranma's blue colored Psi-Shield. "I guess I'll have more fun in killing you than I first thought," the creature said. He started to chant bazaar phrases and energy seemed to gather into his left palm. After only a few seconds the creature through his hand out saying, "Soul Render!" A sphere of energy that was so deep purple that it was almost black shot out of the hand towards Ranma.

Ranma brought his Psi-Shield up and blocked the magical blast but not without the impact making him step back a couple of steps. 'He's stronger than I first thought,' Ranma thought. 'I can't hold back and I have to finish this quickly.' As the creature started to chant again Ranma ran at him as fast as he could hoping to keep it from finishing the spell. When Ranma was in striking distance with his sword he slashed horizontally at the creature. The creature proved to very agile as it jumped over Ranma just before the slash reached him. When the creature landed it fired another 'Soul Render' at Ranma. Fortunately Ranma spun around quickly enough to deflect the blast with his Psi-Shield once again. This time Ranma counter attacked with Telekinetic Push sending the creature into a near by wall. Ranma seeing the Telekinetic Push disoriented the creature, rushed in so he could try and finish it off.

The creature recovered enough to reach behind it's back and pulled out a small dagger. Ranma was just two steps away from the creature when he through the dagger at him. Ranma was caught off guard by the throw and was not able to block the dagger. The dagger pierced Ranma's right shoulder causing him to yell in pain, "AARRRGGG!" The blade had to have been magical other wise Ranma's Psychic Body Field would have prevented the blade from entering in as deeply as it did. As he had no time to worry about that fact, Ranma quickly activated another of his Psionic Powers called Deaden Pain. It stopped the burning sensation from the wound immediately making Ranma refocus on his enemy who was chanting in preparation for another spell. Ranma did not give him enough time to finish as he rushed at the creature once more. Because the short distance between the two Ranma reached the creature before it could finish and slashed at the creature's head. In a shower of black blood the creature's head was sliced from its body. The body crumpled to the ground in a heap as Ranma staggered back.

With a grunt of effort Ranma pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and let the blade drop to the ground. After that he deactivated all his Psionic Powers except for Deaden Pain and then activated Increased Healing so the wound would heal. It was then that Ranma's body decided it had enough for now and he dropped to the ground. Though he was still conscious Ranma knew his body would not be able to move until his wound was healed and he had enough rest to replenish his strength. It would not occur to Ranma that he had just killed until much later and when he did register that fact it would only bring a little comfort to him that he had killed something non human and very evil. For in this one act Ranma went from being a simple Martial Artist with Psionic Powers to a true Psi-Warrior, a person willing to kill in order to stop evil.

Author's Note: For those of you who are not familiar with the ternm Burster, it is a Psychic Character Class in Rifts with a Pyrokinetic Powers that are above anyone else's. All Burster's have one thing in common personallity wise, they are extremely passionate about just about everything, and to me Akane fits that part of the personality very well.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

It was nighttime and Ranma was furiously practicing with his new Psi-Sword a top some School he really did know the name of. After the fight with that creature Ranma had reached to the point were he could use the Art of Offense, with the addition some additional powers thanks to his Mind Melter Heritage. He did not immediately realize his new Psionic Powers. After he killed the creature Ranma spent four days trying to come to terms with his action. Even though the being he killed was not human nor was it a 'good' did little to appease Ranma's conscience. Ranma had performed an action that as a Martial Artist he would never have to taken a part in; to take another person's, or in this case being's, life no matter.

For the next three days Ranma spent most of his time isolated in the park he was staying at serious contemplating if he should continue his the path of a Psi-Warrior. Ranma started to weigh what he knew about the being and what he could have possibly done or still have done if Ranma had not killed him. The creature had used some kind of Magic Spell to attack him and when Ranma blocked it with his Psi-Shield it actually moved him, something that Ranma knew took a lot of force to accomplish. What would have that 'Soul Render' done against a normal person? Ranma shuttered to think of what that attack could have possibly done. Then there was the dagger that Ranma got hit with, it was Magical and was able to penetrate his Psychic Body Field; a Psionic Power that effectively turned the user's skin to full plate mail. To penetrate that meant the dagger could have ripped a hole through a normal human body with almost no effort. Again Ranma had shuttered at what he thought that being could have done with that dagger.

Then there was Ranma's own actions, was he justified in killing him? The battle was life and death, Ranma had decided when he searched his enemy's feelings, it wanted to kill him and Ranma had to defend himself. Was killing in self defense allowed in a Martial Artist Code? Ranma honestly did not know the answer to that question. He only had his father's teaching about the Code of a Martial Artist to go on. And even before Ranma fell into that Spring in China he knew his father's teachings were warped at best. Not a good frame of reference to be sure. What about stopping an evil person? It was when Ranma asked himself this question he remembered a saying he overheard once when he was a kid, 'Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.' It was after remembering that phrase that Ranma decided that he did the right thing by stopping that creature, even though he loathed killing it.

When Ranma came to the realization that sometimes to stop evil one had to kill he had to face his original question, does he continue the path of a Psi-Warrior? Ranma's answer was; yes, he would continue his path and his training. That meant entering his mind and talking with Jake once again.

(Flash Back)

Ranma opened his mental eyes and saw Jake sitting in lotus position with his eyes closed. When Ranma approached him Jake said, "I'm glad you are continuing your training Ranma. I know this was a difficult decision for you and I feel I should give you another warning about the future, if you truly wish to continue you must understand that you will forced to kill again. There is no avoiding that part of a Psi-Warrior's duty."

"I know," Ranma said. "I hated the feeling I had when I killed that guy and I hope that I will always hate the idea of killing."

"I hope so too," Jake said. "Because if you do you will no longer be a Warrior but a Butcher instead." Jake was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Ranma, I would like to apologize to you. When we first spoke I should have warned you that you have to kill if you became a Psi-Warrior and I did not. For that you have my deepest apologies."

"You're right should have told me," Ranma said. He then waved his hand in a dismissing gesture while saying, "But we can't do anything about that now, so don't worry about it."

"Very well," Jake agreed. "Now let us move on. It is time for you to learn the Psionic Powers for the Art of Offense, plus a few additions that will come in handy during battle."

(End of Flash Back)

After that meeting Ranma opened his eyes and immediately reached his hand out and activated his Psi-Sword. When he did it took the shape of his Chinese Broad Sword just as he envisioned it. He had to admit he was quite proud of this achievement. The Psi-Sword is one of the most personal Psionic Powers a person can have. They often reflect a person's will and personality in terms of shape, color, and use. For Ranma the shape was a Chinese Broad Sword, the sword was flexible in its use in that it combined with open hand techniques very well, something that Ranma desired in a weapon if he were to use one. The color was sky blue signifying confidence in one's self, a well inner strength, and a strong determination to do what is right. And the shape or a better word was the design of the sword was an equal mix of power and speed making it ideal for Ranma to use.

After Ranma manifested his Psi-Sword he went off somewhere private to practice it. And that was what brought Ranma to the roof of School this night. It was well after hours and the chances of someone finding him were remote. After Ranma finished his last Kata he willed his Psi-Sword away and took a deep breath, "Well I guess I finally got the hang of it know. Later I'll test out the other powers I got, although the Mind Bolt and the Telekinetic Acceleration Attack will need to be done in an even more isolated place then this. From Jake said those two Powers can cause a lot of damage and there's no way I'll put an innocent person in danger if I can help it."

After jumping down from the roof and leaving the School Ranma started to think about the issues he thought of before all this mess started. 'I need to find Mom's grave,' Ranma thought. 'I'll head to the Public Records tomorrow, good thing there was that street fight I found on the way here. I just had to beat a few armatures and collect a few thousand yen as the prize. It should be more than enough to cover what ever fees the Public Records Office charges me.'

The next day Ranma walked into the Public Records Office dressed in his best Chinese Clothes. He wanted to be taken seriously when he started to request information about his family and the best way to do that was to dress nice and look presentable; this was yet another lesson he learned after being on his own.

As he walked up to the front desk the Receptionist, a young woman in her early twenties, gave Ranma a once over and smiled liking what she saw. Ranma blushed at her smile knowing that she found him attractive, maybe more. He had correlated this type of smile with said feelings via his Empathy about a month ago. Now if he saw that smile Ranma did not have to have his Empathy activated to know the woman was attracted to him. "Welcome to the Public Records Office," the woman greeted. "I am Megami Nami, how can I help you?"

"Hello Ms. Megami, I would like to see the Family Register of the Saotome Clan please," Ranma requested.

"That should not be a problem," the Receptionist said. "Although I will have to ask for you for some I.D. thought."

"That's no problem," Ranma replied. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew his wallet and handed over the passport he received in Hong Kong. He decided to enter Japan legally on his return trip so he needed a passport. The process needed to get one through the Japanese Embassy was not too difficult then and now he had some legal I.D.

The Receptionist looked at the passport and noted Ranma's family name. "Why are you requesting your own Family Register?"

"Well just arrived in the area and I wanted see if I had any relatives in the area," Ranma said. "My Pop is out of the country on a Martial Arts Training Trip and I don't want to disrupt his training." Ranma had never been good at lying and would probably never be good at it. Over the last few months he had become in telling half-truths though so the Receptionist believed his story completely.

"I see," the Receptionist said looking over Ranma's body once again, this time her smile grew in size and implication. "Well getting you the Registry won't be a problem, especially since you are a member of the family, but there the standard fee of Two Thousand Yen."

Ranma nodded expecting that. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the necessary bills. "There you go," Ranma said.

"Thank you," she replied taking the money. "After you're finished looking at the Registry how about you and I go get some…lunch."

"Well…um…I would…I mean I…um…think that…um would be…n…nice," Ranma stuttered at the blatant display of attraction. "B…but I…um n…need to r…run some err…errands after I'm d…done here."

The Receptionist frowned at the news. "Well that's too bad. I was really hoping you'd be free." She let out a heavy sigh, "Well why don't you have a seat and I'll be right back with the Registry in a few minutes."

After the Receptionist left Ranma sighed, "Why does this keep happing to me?"

Ten minutes later the Receptionist returned and handed Ranma a thick pile of papers, "Here's the Saotome Registry as well as your passport," she said. She then handed Ranma a small slip of paper, "And these are my numbers. And for reference sake, the top numbers are my measurements and the bottom numbers is my phone number." She left Ranma with a wink and sway in her hip.

Ranma quickly took the small slip and hid it away. 'Great another one,' Ranma thought. 'I'll throw it away later.' He looked at the pile of papers, 'Well guess I better get started.' Before Ranma even looked at the first piece of the paper, he activated his Psionic Power Speed Reading and Total Recall. These combined Psionic Powers would allow him to read through the pile of papers extremely quickly and remember every word he saw. After a couple of minutes Ranma stopped reading the papers near the end and looked shocked. 'What the hell? Mom's alive!' Ranma was staring at the paper practically shaking in anger. 'Oh I am soooo going to hurt Pop when I see him again!' He started to look through the remaining papers and found Mother's address. 'Looks like she lives in the Suburb Ward, Meguro. That's a descent trip from here in Nerima. I should be able to get there in about an hour or so.' Ranma stood up picking up the papers and placed them in the return box so they could filed once again. Once he was finished Ranma left the building and could not help but think, 'I wonder what she's like?'

In the residential district of Meguro a reddish-brown haired woman was looking through a set of documents. The documents were detailing the latest news she had received about her husband and son. Ten years ago she allowed her husband to take her son on a Martial Arts Training Journey. Normally she would have never allowed this to happen, but her son was not an ordinary case and neither were she and her family.

This woman's family was actually long running and highly respected clan of Devil Hunters, or at least the women were. In this particular family line only the women were born with the natural powers needed to hunt and destroy the Supernatural Evils of the world. Add to the fact that most of the children in the clan were girls the clan in order to maintain their bloodline the women of the clan would marry men with high levels of Ki. Usually this was done through an arranged marriage with another Devil Hunter Clan. In this woman's case, due to various reasons such as prior commitments and death, there was no available male from a Devil Hunter Clan. That meant that she had to find a man with high levels of Ki that was not part of a Devil Hunter Clan.

She found such a man in a gifted Martial Artist when she was out hunting a pervert demon once. He was not the best of catches but at the time he was certainly not the worst either. In time she grew to care for him enough to marry him and the two were wed. Nine months later her child was born and to many people's surprise the child was a boy. Due to the family most often birthing girls, the thought of checking the gender before hand never occurred to them. Although she was surprised at the gender she was still overjoyed at the sight of first child. Unfortunately the boy was to be her only child as an infection in her uterus ended up making her infertile.

Once this news was told the woman's Grandmother, the leader of the Clan, called in an old friend of hers. This old friend was actually a Seer and the Grandmother called him so they could determine the future of their Clan, for males born into the Clan never father another Devil Hunter even if the offspring were girls. With the woman being an only child and no longer able to bare more children the future of the Clan was in jeopardy. As fate would have it however the Seer said that there was hope for the Clan.

The Seer had said that the boy had the opportunity to become the Clan's first ever male Devil Hunter. The catch was the power would come from an outside means of the bloodline and that he had to be among the strongest of men. When the woman's husband heard of this prediction he proudly proclaimed that he train his son to be a 'man among men' in his Martial Arts and would be strong enough to become a true Devil Hunter. After five years of constant begging and assurances the woman's husband finally convinced her to allow him to take her son on an extended training trip. She however did not let him go without an incentive to raise her son properly, she force him to sign a contract that if her son was not what he was promised to be then her husband had to commit seppuku. With great reluctance her husband signed the contract and the father and son were off.

No more than two weeks later a man and his daughter showed up claiming they had an arranged marriage with the Saotome Clan, this would not be the last time this happened. After convincing the man that no such arrangement could have been made as the leader of the Clan did not make the deal, the Clan started an extensive investigation on the woman's husband's activities. With in another week her husband's actions were brought to light and the leader of the Clan declared that her son was to be brought back and her husband was to be apprehended. Allies and friends of the Clan searched frantically for the missing pair, even more so once they learned of a training exercise the involved a bunch of starving cats. To the continues frustration of the Clan, the woman's husband was very adapt at running away and avoiding pursuit. The result was whenever a search party caught wind of the father and son the pair had already left the area staying one step ahead of the Clan.

Still reports from many sources always came in. The latest was all the way from China. Apparently the woman's husband once again got into some serious trouble. The only difference this time was that her husband had actually been caught. That was great news, the Clan would send a request to the captures asking them to turn him over to them. The bad news was that, according to the report, her son disappeared soon after the capture and had not been seen since. At least that was until she read the next page of the report. One month ago, her son turned up again in Hong Kong requesting a new passport. When the Clan finally got there, he was already long gone. So as of right now her son was still missing and the woman was extremely worried for his safety.

'I will hurt Husband severely for what he has done to my Son!' the woman, Saotome Nodoka, silently declared. 'By the Kami what were we thinking letting him take Ranma away? We were we so desperate to continue our Devil Hunting Heritage that we willing to risk everything, that's what.' That thought made Nodoka curse her and her family's foolishness in their decision. 'We were so caught up in the idea of a Male Devil Hunter we ignored Genma's idiocy. Still that is no excuse, I just hope Ranma turned out well, I won't ask for his forgiveness no one in the Clan deserves it.'

Nodoka was brought out of her self damning by a knock from the front door. As she opened the door Nodoka saw a teenage boy waiting on the other side. "Hi," the young man said. "Would this happen to be the Saotome Residence?"

"Yes it is Young Man," Nodoka answered. "I am Saotome Nodoka, how can I help you?"

The boy looked stunned for a moment and then became nervous and started scratching the back of his head. With a slight stutter in his voice the boy spoke again, "H…hi Mom. It's me Ranma. Sorry about showing up like this."

Author's Note: For those that are familiar with the abilities of a Psi-Warrior I would like to assure you that Ranma will get all of them, just not necessarily in the same order. He'll get different powers at different times as well as additional powers because of Mind Melter part of him.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Ranma lay wide-awake in a bed in a very Spartan room staring up at the ceiling. The room was in his Mother's house and she told him that it had been his as a young boy and was now his once again. For the moment Ranma could not think of this room as his. For that matter he could think of anything in this room, save his clothes, pack and sword, as his. The idea of him owning anything more than what he could carry was foreign to him.

Also foreign to him was the fact that he was sleeping on a comfortable bed. On the road Ranma never slept on a comfortable bed. If he and his Father stayed at a Dojo Ranma would be given a futon. If they were camping in the woods Ranma would only have his sleeping bag and the hard ground. On those rare occasions when they slept in a cheap motel Ranma was forced to sleep on the floor, his father's excuse was sleeping on a bed would make him soft. That never stopped his fat fool of a father from sleeping on the bed however.

Ranma was not able to fall asleep because he had a lot on his mind. He had not told his Mother what happened to him and using his Empathy he knew his Mother was holding something back as well. Ranma had to wonder what she was holding back, he knew it concerned him but that was all he knew.

In a room down the hall from Ranma, Nodoka was also lying awake. The reason she was up was because of her Son. When she just arrived at her doorstep only hours ago she was surprised. That surprise quickly changed to joy and she grabbed her only child into love and guilt filled hug. Five minutes later Nodoka guided Ranma into the house so she could get a good look at him. When they were both seated Nodoka started to probe Ranma with her Devil Hunter senses. Nodoka knew that she should not have done that but she could not help herself. If Ranma was strong enough to become a Devil Hunter then maybe the last ten years were not a complete waist; that maybe some good came out of so many people's mistakes.

What she found surprised her. Nodoka had long experience in sensing the different types of energy patterns that one experienced as a Devil Hunter; whether they be Magic, Ki, Demonic Power, Devine Power or any number of mixes of the four. The Saotome Devil Hunters specialized in Ki usage to hunt evil, and to strengthen their line the women would marry men with high Ki levels. She expected Ranma to have high Ki levels from his extensive Martial Arts Training. Genma's practices may have been insane but according to the reports Ranma was a gifted Martial Artist.

When she scanned Ranma, however, she discovered a power that was similar to Ki but now quite Ki. It was definitely Inner Strength but it did not seem to come from his life force. The notion of that puzzled her because Ki was the only energy source that she knew to be internal. All the others came from an outside source whether it was from the World itself, some Devil or Kami it still did not come from the individual. When she probed further she discovered a faint trace of Chaos Magic that was some how linked to the strange Inner Strength but not the ultimate source of it.

Nodoka was fairly sure where the Chaos Magic originated from, Jusenkyo. One did not live so closely to the Supper Natural in the Far East and not hear of Jusenkyo. Considering that Genma and Ranma had been spotted in Jusenkyo's general location lent evidence to support that hypothesis. She desperately wanted to find out the full truth but she could also tell that Ranma did not fully trust her yet. For her to gain his trust Nodoka knew that she needed to be truthful with him about everything. She decided that would come later, after she contacted her Grandmother. For that day however everything concerning secrets was put aside and Nodoka spent the rest of the day peacefully with Ranma.

'Tomorrow I'll call Grandmother,' Nodoka thought. 'She'll be just has happy to hear that Ranma is home again. I do wonder how she'll react when she feels what I felt? Maybe she knows what that strange power is and if it harmful in anyway? How will Ranma react to his Great Grandmother and for that matter what we do? He has been exposed to Magic that much I am certain. Even though Chaos Magic is not necessarily good or evil it does have a tendency to make life difficult to those around it. Many people often become distrustful and sometimes outright hate anything beyond the norm after they have been exposed to Chaos Magic. If Ranma is like that then he may never want anything to do with us!' The last thought frightened Nodoka more than anything in he previously. The idea of a Child never wanting to see his or her Mother again was one of the most dreadful thoughts any Mother had. 'All I do at this point is hope that Ranma won't hate us and abandon his family.'

The next morning Nodoka awoke at 6:30 A.M. just like she did every morning and began her morning routine. When she made her way to the bathroom she heard noises coming from the other side. She knew that the only other person in the house was Ranma she knew he was in there. What made Nodoka curious was the fact that Ranma was up so early when the average teenager would never get up this early unless they were forced to. "Ranma?" she called through the door. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah Mom," Ranma answered. "I'm fine. I'll be out in just a couple of minutes and the furo will be all yours."

"Very well Ranma," Nodoka replied. "Ranma, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you up so early?"

There was no answer and the only sounds coming from the other side of the door were feet moving across the tile. A couple of seconds of this passed before the door opened and Ranma stepped out in all black Chinese clothes, "I'm always up this early Mom," Ranma answered. "I get up early so I can train in the cool air."

"I see," Nodoka answered. "Well why don't you relax for a bit and after I'm finished with my bath I'll start some breakfast for us."

"Sounds great Mom," Ranma said with a huge smile. Ranma always had and always will like good food. And last night at dinner Ranma had ate some of, if not the best food he had ever tried.

Half an hour later Ranma's nose was twitching and his mouth was watering at the smells coming from the kitchen as he waited impatiently for the food to finish cooking. 'If this is kind of food Mom makes regularly then something really serious had to have happened if Pop left. One thing I could always count on was that Pop's stomach would always find good food on the training trip.' Ranma's smile turned to a frown for second as he thought, 'Whether I got any or not depended on how fast I was. Just one more thing I'm going to pound Pop for when I see him again.'

A little bit later Nodoka was setting the food out on the table and watched with an amused smile as Ranma followed every dish's track. When the food was all set she could see that he was forcefully holding himself back to keep from taking all from the table. "Help yourself Ranma," Nodoka instructed and with a blur of hands Ranma's plate was now full and Ranma was soon filling his belly. 'He may eat a lot quicker than most people but at least he has table manners unlike Genma did.' Nodoka did not know that Ranma only had table manners because he was kicked out of the restaurants on his travels back to Japan. When Ranma had enough money to get himself a decent meal he would go into a restaurant. The restaurants did not appreciate his normal style of eating as it often disturbed the other patrons and would make him leave. After the fourth time it finally sunk that Ranma would be able to actually finish a meal if he ate a reasonable pace, thus he did not eat every meal like he was a paper shredder.

When the Mother and Son were finished Nodoka spoke up, "Ranma today I would like to take you to meet the rest of our family."

'I guess that means I'll have to put off training with the Mind Bolt and Telekinetic Acceleration Attack for another day,' Ranma thought. He was disappointed that he had to put off his serious training for another day Ranma was excited at the idea of meeting more of his family. "Sure Mom, when will be leaving?"

"Not for at least an hour Ranma," Nodoka said. "I have to call them and let them know we are coming by."

Ranma nodded showing his understanding. "So where does the rest of the family live?"

"Not far," Nodoka answered. "In fact you're Great Grandmother, Saotome Nanami, is a Priestess at a shrine right here in Meguro. She'll so happy to see you Ranma, in fact all everyone of our family will."

'I remember a Nanami Saotome from the Registry,' Ranma thought. 'All it said was that she's been a Shrine Priestess for nearly seventy years. I wonder what she's like and does she look like that Elder I saw back in the Amazon Village.' The image of an extremely aged individual hopping around on a long staff came to his mind. 'I guess I'll find out when I meet her.' "I want to meet her too, Mom," Ranma said. "It'll be good to know I have relatives other than you and Pop." Ranma took note of Nodoka's frown at the mention of his Father, 'Looks like Mom doesn't like the old fool very much. I wonder if she knows about what happened on the training trip.'

"I'm glad to hear that Ranma," Nodoka replied with an honest smile. 'If he wants to meet the rest of the family it will make what we have to tell him easier to hear.' "I'll go give Grandmother a call and let her know we're coming then."

Up in her room Nodoka listened to the number she dialed ring a couple times before someone picked it up. "Saotome Shrine," a young female voice said. "How may I help you?"

"This is Saotome Nodoka," Nodoka said. "I would like to speak with my Grandmother please." 'This must be Grandmother's new trainee. What was her name again?' Nodoka shook her head at her failure to recall the name. 'Oh I am so bad with people's names when I haven't met them yet.' Because of the Saotome Clan's long history, only matched or surpassed by a few hand of other Clans, many young Devil Hunters came to the Saotome Shrine to further their powers.

"Hold on a second I'll go get her," the young voice said.

A few seconds later an old voice was heard on the phone, "Nodoka, to what do I owe the pleasure of you're call?"

"Grandmother I called to let you know that Ranma has returned home and I would like to bring him by to meet you later today," Nodoka answered.

"Oh thank the Heavens!" Nodoka's Grandmother said. "When I got the report that he disappeared I feared the worst. By all means bring him by as soon as you can!"

"Don't worry Grandmother I will," Nodoka assured.

"I know you won't like this but as leader of our Clan I have to ask, can he carry on our tradition?" Saotome Nanami asked.

"I am not sure Grandmother," Nodoka replied.

"What do you mean Nodoka?" the leader of the Saotome Clan asked. Her voice was dripping with confusion. "You should be able to tell if he has sufficient Ki. Since Ranma could have survived Genma's idiotic training regiment he should be radiating Ki."

"Well Grandmother, I did scan Ranma and he does have power but it is not Ki nor is it any other source of power I am familiar with," Nodoka answered honestly. "It has a similar feel to Ki but it is still significantly different. It is an Inner Strength but the power does not feel like it comes from Ranma's Life Force."

"Then bring him by right away Nodoka," Saotome Nanami instructed. "And I shall see what this mysterious power is."

"Yes Grandmother," Nodoka said. "We shall be there within the half hour."

"Then I'll see you then Nodoka," Ranma's Great Grandmother said before she hung up.

Nodoka hung up her phone and went to the mantle near her bed. As part of the family tradition a formal meeting between family members required they be armed with their personal weapon. This tradition started earlier in their history when the Clan was almost whipped out by a tribe of Ogres that decided a large number of unarmed Devil Hunters was too much of a target to miss.

Taking the sword of the mantle she inspected the blade and like always found it to be perfect. Her sword was a Katana that was several centuries old that had been passed down in her family for several generations. It was crafted with the finest steel, seals designed for killing demons and their like etched into it, and purified almost every week to keep the sword from being corrupted by all the evil it slew. Nodoka had hoped she would be able to pass it onto her Child when she learned she learned she was pregnant almost seventeen years ago. Now she knew that was not a possibility, Ranma did not use a Japanese Sword and his power was not compatible with the seals. With luck Nodoka would be able to pass it on to any grandchildren Ranma might have but for know it looked she would be the last to yield this Katana as a Devil Hunter.

When Nodoka came down stairs, bundle strapped placed securely in her Obi, she saw Ranma waiting for her in the living room. "Ranma, before we leave you should retrieve your sword and bring it with you," Nodoka said.

"Why?" Ranma asked.

"It is family tradition that when there is an official meeting the members of the Clan must be armed, if they have a weapon that is," Nodoka answered.

"Oh ok," Ranma replied. As he headed up stairs he thought, 'This is an odd tradition. Maybe it has something do with what Mom's holding back.'

A twenty-minute walk later, Mother and Son were standing outside a fair sized Shinto Shrine. When they entered the Shrine, a young teenage girl maybe a year younger than Ranma with brown hair and black eyes wearing the usual robes for a Shrine Priestess met them outside the main temple building. After an appreciative look towards Ranma she led them into a large room where an old woman with a Naginata next to her was kneeling. "Mistress Saotome, Saotome Nodoka and her Son Ranma are here to see you," she said.

"I may be old Child but I am not blind," the old woman replied. The poor girl looked embarrassed and started to bow stuttering out apologies before the old woman waver her off. "Go back to your chores, I have much to discuss with my Granddaughter and her Son."

"Yes Mistress Saotome," the girl bowed still red from embarrassment and scurried out of the building.

"She seems awfully agitated," Nodoka commented.

"The Child is still new here," Saotome Nanami commented. "She is afraid she'll upset me and deny her training and bring shame to her family."

"I don't mean to be rude but what kind of training is she doing?" Ranma asked.

"That is part of the reason why you are here Ranma," Nanami answered. "Now come closer and let me have a good look at you. I haven't see you since you were five years old." Ranma complied and sat less than half a meter in front of the old woman, with his mother sitting next to him. As soon as he sat down his Great Grandmother reached with her wrinkled hand and started moving Ranma's face back and forth. "You look just like my husband when he was your age," she said. "Good thing you take after our side of the family and not Genma's." After a physical inspection Nanami started to probe on a metaphysical level.

Ranma felt the probe and decided it was time to use a Psionic Power and see how she reacted. Activating his Alter Aura, Ranma changed what ever his Great Grandmother's probe was telling her. 'Let's see how she likes this,' Ranma thought. 'Hmm I wonder what her Aura is like.' Ranma then activated his See Aura and looked at the old woman.

At the same time both oldest and youngest members of the Saotome Clan jerked back. Nanami jerked back because she felt Ranma activate his Psionic Power and saw his Aura change right in the middle of her probe. Ranma jerked back because of the power he was feeling from Nanami. Her Aura told Ranma that his Great Grandmother was at least three times as strong as he was and was saturated with Ki.

After Nanami recovered from the shock of seeing such an advanced ability she asked, "Would you mind explaining how you altered you Aura Ranma?"

"Only if you explain why you're Aura is so strong," Ranma countered.

"I'm glad to see my Great Grandson is intelligent enough not to completely trust some he first meets," Nanami said. "I, like all the female members of our Clan, am a Devil Hunter. Though I am retired from actually fighting do to my age I still retain my levels of Ki."

When Ranma heard her statement he started to chuckle to himself at the coincidence of his situation. Here he was a Psi-Warrior, a person dedicated to stopping supernatural evil and his Clan was into the exact same thing, only with Ki instead of Psionic Powers. After a few minutes of laughing Ranma looked at his Mother and Great Grandmother who both had questioning looks on their faces. After calming down Ranma started to explain his story from the time he was at Jusenkyo and hid first meeting with Jake to the Amazons to the meeting with the Tendos and finally his fight with creature a few days earlier. "…after the fight I had to make a choice if I was going to continue being a Psi-Warrior or not. I choose to continue," Ranma finished his story.

"The first kill a Devil Hunter makes is always the hardest Ranma," Nodoka said putting her hand on Ranma's shoulder for support. "It is something each of us faced."

Ranma gave his Mother an appreciative smile before speaking again. "I've just entered the Art of Offense and only learned to manifest my Psi-Sword a few days ago. I've been performing Sword Katas ever since I left Pop so I'm pretty proficient with it although I have not had a chance to use it in combat yet."

"So you now have Psychic abilities," Nanami mused. "It is no wonder you did not recognize the source of his power Nodoka, Psychic Powers are very rare and only manifest one or two abilities at a time." Nanami directed her gaze at Ranma and continued, "We will have to test you're abilities to see their true extent but for now I would like to see this 'Psi-Sword' of yours."

Ranma nodded and held out his right hand. Not more than a second later the Psi-Sword appeared in his hand causing a gasp from his Mother and an appreciative nod from his Great Grandmother. "The Psi-Sword's shape is subject to the person's will. I made mine like a Chinese Broad Sword because of my Fighting Style. I like to be able to use my empty hand techniques and the Chinese Katas for the sword are designed for that."

"I see," Nanami replied. "Just from the power I sense from it, it is truly an powerful weapon. Thank you for showing me Ranma you may…dismiss…it now." Ranma nodded and willed the sword away. "Now that all that is taken care of, come we'll talk more in the my house and we can get to know each other as a family should."

"Sounds great, Great Grandma," Ranma said with a smile. After standing up he helped both his family members to their feet and the three moved into a more comfortable setting.

At the Tokyo Dock on a Chinese Freighter a large member of an endangered species, a Giant Panda to be exact, lumbered off the ship. As it walked a down the gang plank several people turned to stare at the strange sight. When the Panda noticed it held up a sign saying, "Don't mind me. Just go about your business." The people blinked a couple of times before returning their collective stares at the animal. After completely ignoring the stunned people in the Harbor Master's Office, all the while breaking several laws, and walking in the direction of Tokyo proper the Panda thought, 'Finally I'm back home. Now to get to Tendos and have the boy marry one of his girls and can safely live on easy street. I just hope that Ungrateful Boy didn't do anything stupid jeopardize my retirement just because I wasn't there to keep him out of trouble.'


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Ranma sighed; he was about to face his most hated enemy, school. Ranma hated to go to school not because he did not like learning, anymore at least. He had found a new appreciation of learning something other than Martial Arts since becoming a Psi-Warrior. The reason Ranma hated going to school was because it was so boring. The mindless drawl of the teachers, sitting in one place for hours on end, and the over all slow pace at which the day seemed to pass; in Ranma's mind it was all one big waste of time. The only reason he was here was because his Mother insisted he attend school.

Nodoka knew that Ranma had been lacking in terms of a continued education from the reports on Genma's activities over the years. So after they returned home from meeting his Great Grandmother she informed him that he would be attending High School. Her quote was, 'No Son of mine is going to be an uneducated fool. And besides you would be surprised at what a little extra knowledge can do to help a Devil Hunter.' Ranma had to admit that his Mother had a point. Before he became a Psi-Warrior and the diverse abilities it entailed Ranma thought everything other than Martial Arts techniques were useless to him. Now he thought different because of the vast array of knowledge he needed to make his powers more efficient.

Still the thought of having to go to school was rather unappealing to him. 'At least I'm not wearing one of those stiff uniforms,' Ranma thought. The uniform that Ranma was wearing looked the standard High School uniform worn by other boys. But his was different, it was made out of stronger materials specifically for combat, it was looser allowing for free range of motion, and even had hidden pockets for small weapons. When Ranma asked how Nodoka knew his size she said that she just used the sizes form his clothes in his pack and had his uniforms delivered while they were visiting the Saotome Temple.

Taking a deep breath in resignation Ranma said, "Well here goes nothing" and stepped into the School Yard of Toyohashi High School.

As soon as he entered the School a voice called out to him, "Hey Ranma!" Ranma paused blinking at the sound of his name. He certainly was not expecting for anyone to know him by name the day her arrived.

Turning to the voice Ranma saw a familiar girl with brown hair and black eyes. He recognized her as the girl that showed him and his Mother to his Great Grandmother yesterday. "Oh hey…um you know I never got you're name yesterday."

"Oh that's right!" the girl recalled. "My name is Aihara Misago, and since we'll be spending a lot of time because of our after school activities you can call me Misago. Mistress informed me that we'll be in the same class and asked me to show you around today."

"Ok Misago, but I have a question, aren't you a year younger then me?" Ranma asked.

"I was skipped a year ahead," Misago answered. "Come on I'll show you to the Office." With a shrug Ranma followed Misago the Office to meet the Principle of the School.

"Your records are sporadic at best Mr. Saotome," the Principle commented looking over Ranma's file, it was a copy Nodoka had from her reports on Genma's actions. "And your grades aren't all that impressive on the surface. However considering how seldom you attended school I have to say it caught my attention. I have this six sense about students," Ranma smirked a little at the reference because of his Psionic Powers, "And its telling me that if you're pushed right way you can be an outstanding student. That is why I'm putting you in a unique class. The teacher of the class has proven methods that help students perform at their best. Now I'll warn you a head of time, she can be very strict but she is also fair. You follow the rules and she treats you well, in fact she's been known to treat her better students to free lunches; if you disobey the rules then she punishes you, and trust me you don't want to be punished by her."

"I thought I'd be Misago's class," Ranma spoke up.

"You mean Miss Aihara," Ranma nodded. "You will be," the Principal replied. "She was put in the class because people like you and her need to be pushed in school otherwise you get bored and end up doing worst then you are truly capable of." The Principal handed Ranma a slip of paper, "This is your room number and teacher."

Ranma looked at the paper and read the contents out loud, "Ninomiya Hinako room 311."

"Well you should be going," the Principal said. "Class will be starting soon and you don't want to be late."

"Yeah sure," Ranma said. He stood and bowed and the Principal returned the gesture.

After Ranma left the Principal smirked, "I wonder how he'll react to her and how she'll react to him. I hope I'm right about the kid because I wouldn't want anyone to be on Miss Hinako's bad side."

Ranma quickly made his way to the proper room. When he knocked he was surprised to see a young girl no more than twelve answer the door. 'Misago said she was skipped ahead a year,' Ranma thought. 'Maybe this is class for geniuses or something and she was skipped ahead like Misago.' Ranma felt some pride at being in a class for geniuses. "Hi I'm Saotome Ranma," Ranma greeted. "Is this Miss Ninomiya's class?"

"Yes is Mr. Saotome," the twelve year old answered.

"Ah you can call me Ranma," Ranma said. "I feel kind weird having someone call me 'Mr.' Even if you're a little girl."

The girl's cheeks puffed out in anger, "I am not a little girl!"

"Sorry, sorry," Ranma apologized. "I didn't mean anything by it honest." Ranma decided to change the subject seeing the girl was still upset, "So what's your name?"

"I guess Principal Negara didn't mention me again," the girls huffed. "He always likes to life at students' reactions to meeting me." Ranma looked puzzled and the little girl continued, "I am Ninomiya Hinako."

"Wow you must be really smart to be teaching already," Ranma said.

The newly identified teacher blinked at Ranma's statement, 'Well that's a first,' she thought. "I may not look it but I'm actually in my early twenties."

"Oh," Ranma said. He activated his Empathy and See Aura. 'She's telling the truth but her Aura is really messed up! It's like she's sick and not at the same time. How is that possible?'

'Must be used to the unusual,' Hinako concluded. "Well come in class and introduce yourself. And you had better not be a delinquent!"

"Um sure and I'll try not to be," Ranma said. 'She must really hate delinquents!' Ranma then took another look at her Aura and frowned, 'I wonder why it's so messed up and I wonder if I can do anything about it at some point?'

At the Saotome Shrine Nodoka and Nanami were meeting with an elderly couple, though still younger then Nanami. The man was around 170 cm (approximately 5'7") with short black hair with streaks of grey, bluish-grey eyes and a fit build for someone in their forties, the fact that he was in his sixties only added to his physical prowess; he was armed with bow staff. The woman was 155 cm (around 5'3") with long reddish-brown hair, black eyes, and also a looking to be in her forties when in reality she was in her sixties; she was armed with a Bow and Arrows. These were Nodoka's Parents, Saotome Yugi and Saotome Kaori.

Nodoka's Father took the Saotome name when he married into the family. He was an accomplished Devil Hunter his wife for many years and continues to act share his experiences with the younger Devil Hunters from his side of the family. Nodoka's Mother was an even great Devil Hunter than her husband do to her exceptionally strong Ki, even among her own family, and still slays the occasional demon she comes across.

At the moment they were discussing the recent return of Ranma. "So when do we get to meet out Grandchild?" Yugi asked.

"Today after school," Nodoka answered. "I told him to come here so that we could test his powers."

"Mother you were rather vague about Ranma's powers when we spoke on the phone," Kaori said. "Just what kind of powers does Ranma have?"

"Ranma posses Psychic Powers," Nanami answered. "And had a greater range and power than any Psychic I've ever met. He also posses some Psychic Powers that were previously unknown until now, like his Psi-Sword and Psi-Shield. They are constructs of Psychic Energy that take the shape of a sword and shield."

"I have heard of some Clans that would manifest a physical weapon through Magic," Yugi replied. "They are usually passed down through the generations also by Magic resulting in only one Devil Hunter per generation. Is this Psi-Sword like that?"

"Apparently not," Nanami answered. "Ranma has explained that anyone with sufficient Psychic Power can manifest a Psi-Sword, it takes a great deal of energy to call on the Psi-Sword however."

"How did Ranma acquire these powers?" Yugi asked. "No one from my or your family have every demonstrated Psychic Powers. Could they have come from his Father?"

"No Genma's Family never had Psychic Powers either," Nanami answered. "How Ranma acquired his powers is a story in and of itself." Nanami told Nodoka's Parents what Ranma told her yesterday.

"What kind of a moron goes to Jusenkyo?" Kaori asked. "Every source of information on Jusenkyo says that place is to be avoided!"

"Apparently my soon to be Ex-Husband," Nodoka answered.

"Remember this is the same man that tried to teach Ranma the Neko-ken," Nanami supplied.

"What is the status of the Neko-ken?" Yugi asked. "Has it caused any problems yet?"

"It has not come up yet," Nodoka mentioned.

"We need to see if we can treat it as soon as possible," Nanami stated. "Ranma said that as a Psi-Warrior it is his duty to stop supernatural evil. If he were to face a cat demon…"

"Then at best Ranma flees in terror and at worse the cat demon posses Ranma and takes over his body," Kaori finished.

"We should talk with Ranma about the Neko-ken tonight," Yugi suggested.

"I had planned on it," Nanami stated.

"Has there been any news of Genma's whereabouts since he last time?" Kaori asked.

"No," Nodoka answered. "Ranma said Genma was captured in China by the Joketsuzoku. However knowing Genma's aptitude at escape and running away it is safe to assume that Genma has gotten away from them. I wonder where he is?"

At that moment Genma-Panda was walking down a street in Nerima District. He was finally able to escape those evil women back in China. Imagine actually forcing him to do work, even when offered his Son as payment for the food he ate. It worked in the past so Genma thought it would work this time as well. Apparently Genma was wrong; while they were interested in Ranma they would not take him as payment.

When Genma tried to escape the first time just a couple of days after Ranma left the village he was caught immediately. The four subsequent times it took longer but was still caught. Every time Genma tried to run away they would make his punishment more severe. Finally Genma was forced to unseal his Umi-Sen-Ken to get away.

That was two weeks ago. It took him that long to trek across China, get on a boat and make it to Nerima. Now Genma-Panda was nearing his destination eagerly anticipating the retirement he deserved. Genma-Panda was confident that Ranma had stayed at Tendo's Place and had married one of Tendo's Daughters by now. It was after all a matter of Family Honor and promise made in the victory over the greatest evil Japan ever faced.

At the Tendo Dojo Soun was crying his eyes out, not an uncommon thing, over a postcard he received in the mail today. The postcard was from Genma stating, 'Made it back from China, Genma.'

"Wah! I'm so happy my Old Friend is finally coming! Wah!" Soun cried. "Now we can track Ranma down and he can marry one of my precious girls!" When a knock on the door brought him out of his latest crying fit. "Saotome My Old Friend at last you're here!" Soun yelled as he rushed to the door.

When he arrived with Kasumi just a few steps behind him both stopped dead in their tracks at sight of a very large Chinese animal. "Hello Tendo!" Genma-Panda held up a sign. "Where's the Boy?"

Soun at this point screamed like a little girl and slid the door Genma-Panda's face. "Kasumi call Animal Control some circus panda has escaped."

Before Kasumi could reply the shogi door slid open again and Genma-Panda held up another sign, "It that anyway to treat your old friend?" The sign flipped around with another message on it, "Didn't the Boy tell you about me?" Soun shook his head no frantically. Genma-Panda frowned and flipped the sign once more, "It's me, Genma."

"Ge…Genma?" Soun stuttered before passing out.

A few minutes later Soun regain consciousness. The first thing he saw was his eldest daughter looking over him. "Oh Mr. Panda Father is awake now," Kasumi said.

Genma-Panda, who had been snacking on some cookies that Kasumi made, looked over and held up yet another sign, "Thanks." Genma-Panda walked over to them and flipped another the sign, "Could I have some hot water?" Genma-Panda would have asked earlier but he saw the cookies he was eating just a couple of seconds ago. And for Saotome Genma eating came before everything else, except his life of coarse; after all one cannot eat anything when one is dead

"That will not be a problem Mr. Panda," Kasumi answered heading to the kitchen.

"Saotome is that really you?" Soun asked. "What happened to you?"

Genma-Panda nodded as Kasumi came back into the room with a kettle of hot water. Taking the kettle Genma-Panda dumped contents over his head, "Yowch!" Genma yelled at the temperature of the water. "Don't make it so hot next time!"

"Y…yes of coarse," Kasumi said. He hair was in slight disarray because of the strange sight of a Panda turning into an overweight man. Feeling something needed cleaning right away Kasumi stiffly walked out of the room.

"It happened in China…" Genma began. He told a story showing himself the tragic victim of treachery lies and wicked women who ended up getting him cursed. Soun being the gullible and overly emotional man he was believed every word of if. When Genma was finished he asked, "So Tendo where's the Boy and his Wife?"

"WAH! YOUR SON ABANDONED HIS DUTY AND LEFT MY POOR BABIES! WAH!" Soun wailed at the top of his lungs. "THEY'VE BEEN SO HEART BROKEN! WAH! WE MUST FIND HIM SAOTOME!"

"What?" Genma yelled. "Oh how could the Kami curse me with such a Dishonorable Son? How could he abandon his duty? Where could he have gone?"

Soun came out of his crying fit instantly at the last question. "Before he left Ranma said that he was going to look for his Mother's Grave." When Soun looked at Genma he saw the fat man looked as white as a sheet. Soun took the display the wrong way, "Oh Saotome I know how you feel! I still think of Kimiko…Kimiko…WAH!"

Genma's loss of color was not do to sadness, no it was do to fear. 'If the Boy finds out Nodoka is alive and finds her…' Genma shivered at the imagined pain both would deliver to him. "Tendo I must know how long ago did the Boy come by?" 'With any luck it wasn't took long ago. The Ungrateful Boy has no idea how to gather information, he doesn't even remember her name! If I hurry I can find him and punish him for his lack of honor and then have him marry one of Tendo's girls!"

"WAH! SHE WOULD MAKE THE BEST COOKIES AND MAKE SURE MY GIS WERE FIRMLY PRESSED! WAH!" Soun was still crying over the memories of his dead wife and did not hear Genma's question. Genma started to shack his friend trying to get him to calm down. It appeared to have worked, "Did you need something Saotome?" Genma repeated his question. "Well it was not more than a week ago."

"Then we still have time!" Genma proudly proclaimed. "We can keep Ranma from finding out…I mean have him regain his honor by marrying one of your girls!"

"Yes of coarse!" Soun declared. "My girls will be so happy once they learn their fiancée will be coming back!" He stood up with his hand thrust into the air, "It'll be Soun…"

Genma seeing a routine from their times when they plotted their Master's demise, shot up with his own finger in the air, "And Genma's…"

In unison the two friends declared, "Operation Fiancée Hunt!"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Saotome Genma was faced with an urgent dilemma. He had to find his wayward and in his opinion 'Ungrateful and Dishonorable Son' before Ranma could contact his Mother. If he could not then all his 'carefully thought out' plans would go up in smoke. He had to find Ranma and make him marry a Tendo. The plans of his Wife's family did not mesh with Genma's needs so he could not let them find his Son.

They wanted to turn Ranma into a Devil Hunter. A profession Genma actually respected, after all it was a Devil Hunter that helped create the Wards that kept the Master imprisoned. But for Genma's plans for his Son it was not a viable option. Devil Hunters ran a high risk of getting killed, if Ranma was dead then he could not support Genma in his retirement. So the choice came down to either honor his promise to turn his Son into a Devil Hunter and run the risk of ruining his retirement or making Ranma just a good Martial Artist and securing for himself a life of luxury. Like so many times in Genma's life, his honor took a back seat to his sloth.

As for his promise to his wife, well he had no fear of slitting his own belly in seppuku. Genma's promise was clearly to raise Ranma to be a 'Man Among Men' not a Devil Hunter. All Genma had to do was show that Ranma could not handle the Evils that a Devil Hunter had to face and he was home free. This would not be a difficult task because Devil Hunters had to be clever and use more than their hands to fight, he made sure Ranma was not clever enough to handle a Devil, Demon, Oni or other horrors and made sure he loathed weapons enough he would never pick one up.

All this preparation however would be a moot point if Genma did not find Ranma before his Wife's Clan. So he had to think of where to search for his Son and the problem was he had no idea where to start. Two days of running around Nerima had not yielded any results so he and Soun had to come up with a different strategy. Unfortunately for them strategy was neither man's strong suit. "We should search the park tomorrow," Genma suggested. "The Boy will set up camp there."

"Yes of coarse," Soun nodded his assent. "Then we'll bring him back here and make him marry one of my babies!"

"Yes and he'll finally regain his honor for running out like that," Genma quickly said.

Considering that Genma knew how his son thought, or rather used to think and that this would be the only choice his Son, as Ranma had with no money and little moneymaking skills. Add the fact Ranma actually did camp out in one of Nerima's Parks this plan did have some merit. What ever merit the plan had however went to waist as the two Masters of Anything Goes Martial Arts would also use this opportunity as an excuse to get out of house and have some drinks. They would then end up only searching the same three parks they before and then return home and repeat the process, due to lack of memory from the alcohol. In fact they have repeated the process twice already and will do it again a third time.

While the Tendo Father and his friend were not having any luck in locating Ranma another was. Nabiki unlike her Father was a Master at strategy, focusing on financial and espionage mainly, and was quickly able to track down the truth about the Saotome Family.

Up in her room Nabiki looked over the documents one of her lackeys delivered to her. 'Well this proves it, Daddy's Friend is full of it,' she thought. 'Not only is he not the head of the Saotome Clan he married into it. A Saotome Nanami is. Also his wife isn't dead and lives over in Meguro.' She flipped through the papers until she came to another point of interest to her, 'Turns out he's the only child of the current generation as well. The Clan is pretty Old, older then Kuno, and that usually means money. If he's the sole child of his generation them he'll eventually inherited most of if not all of the family holdings.' Nabiki leaned back in her chair, 'Cute, comes from an old and apparently still respected Clan that means contacts, has abilities that are unique and thus valuable, and not interested in Akane; conclusion, definitely a keeper!' She looked at the front page again, 'There's nothing happening this weekend that the girls can't handle by themselves so maybe I should pay this Saotome Shrine a visit.'

After his first day of school Ranma knew that unlike the last times he attended class he would most certainly not be bored. Not, after seeing his teacher drain the Ki out of a student that was about to pick a fight during lunch and turning into an extremely attractive young woman. Then there was the fact that his Great Grandmother's student was also in the class as well as several over 'unique' individuals. Like the boy that would pull out strange and highly advanced technology every now and then. If Ranma were to guess they were some sorts of energy scanning devises that picked up 'non conventional energy signatures' as the boy would mutter every now and then. The fact that he was always pointing those devices at him and Misago kind of put Ranma on edge, especially when the boy had a gleam in his eye that reminded Ranma of himself when he ran across a new Martial Arts Technique.

At the moment Ranma was walking with Misago to the Saotome Shrine. His Mother told him to meet her there after School so he could meet her parents, his Grandparents, and to further demonstrate his Psionic Powers. Ranma was looking forward to meeting his Grandparents as well as finally working on his Mind Bolt and Telekinetic Acceleration Attack.

"So Ranma are you excited about meeting more of your family?" Misago asked.

Ranma paused in his walk for a moment at the unexpected question. "Yeah," he answered honestly. "If they're all like my Great Grandma then I'm sure I'll like them." Ranma thought for a moment then asked, "Sad to say but you know my family better than I do, so I got to ask, what are they like?"

"Well I've only met a couple because I've only been staying at the Shrine for a few weeks," Misago said. "I've met your Grandmother and her Brother. She's rather serious most of the time. And her Brother, like all Sons of the family; well except for you I guess, was not a Devil Hunter. I think he runs the family finances or something like that and he never did have any kids of his own. That's all I really know."

"It's more then I know," Ranma muttered a little dejected. 'Danm Panda making me think he's the only family I got. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finally catches up to me, and see's I'm with Mom. I bet he'll have a heart attack when he sees her. That's if Mom doesn't kill him the moment she sees him anyway.' Ranma had picked up several hostile emotions from both his Great Grandmother and Mother yesterday whenever Genma was mentioned in their discussion. This led Ranma to conclude that they knew about at least tome of Genma's ideas of training methods. "Thanks for telling me."

"You're Welcome," Misago chirped. 'He seems about down about not knowing his family. Maybe it's time for a change of subject.' "So, How'd you like you first day?"

"I'll say this I don't think I'll be bored like I usually am at School," Ranma replied.

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one," Misago giggled.

Ranma chuckled a bit himself. "You know there is something that's been bothering me all day," Ranma stated. Misago gave him a questioning look, urging him to continue, "I've had my sword wrapped all day," he gestured to the covered handgrip sticking out of his backpack, "but no one has commented on it. I was wondering why?"

"Most of the people in our glass probably guessed it was a weapon," Misago answered. "It's not uncommon, we're given special permission because of our various," she paused for the right word as they were in a crowded street, "'After school activities'. And with a teacher like Miss Hinako working at the School, little things like a wrapped sword don't draw too much attention."

Ranma nodded, it did have a certain logical patter to it. 'Seeing a twelve year old girl change at least five times a day into a full grown women does would kind of desensitize someone to everyday out of the ordinary, like a couple of people carrying a wrapped sword.'

The rest of the short trip passed with in a comfortable silence. When they arrived at the Saotome Shrine Misago led Ranma to the same building as yesterday. Opening the door the occupants looked up from their tea. "Ah Ranma we were just wondering when you would show," Nanami spoke up. "And Misago once you are finished with the chores you are finished for the day. Your lessons will be picked up tomorrow, today I need to see my Great Grandson's abilities."

"Yes, Mistress," Misago replied with a bow. She quickly went off to the living quarters to change for her duties.

After Misago left Ranma stepped into the room walking up to his Mother. Once he was seated Nodoka spoke, "Ranma I would like you to meet my Parents, your Grandparents, Saotome Yugi and Kaori."

"Hello Ranma," both said with a slight boy.

"Hi Grandma, Grandpa," Ranma replied and mirrored their bow.

"Well now that is finished," Nanami said standing up. "Let's see what you can do."

For the next two hours Ranma demonstrated the Psionic Powers that people were able to see; the Psi-Sword and Shield, various forms of Telekinesis and, due to accidental injury, a couple of the healing Psionics. At the end of the two hours Ranma prepared to use his two of his most dangerous Psionic Abilities, the ones he had been meaning to practice for days now, Telekinetic Acceleration Attack and the Mind Bolt. What made these two abilities so dangerous was the fact that they could potentially kill a person in one attack. The Mind Bolt was very similar to a Ki blast, it was a concentration of Psionic Energy that that can hit a target with pinpoint accuracy at over ninety meters, at least at Ranma's currently level and that would only go up as time went on. The more Psionic Energy one puts into Mind Bolt the great the amount of damage it can cause, in fact if a person did not have a strong enough body and Mind Bolt had enough energy then could blast right through them. The Telekinetic Acceleration Attack was in some cases even worse. The Psionic Power operated on the principle of launching small objects at extremely high velocities. It was more dangerous then the Mind Bolt because it required less energy and could still do almost the same amount of damage. The only draw back of the Psionic Power was that it was limited to about one third the distance of he Mind Bolt.

As a precaution to collateral damage the last two demonstrations were being held outside and behind the Shrine Buildings so no one could see them. "Ok Ranma when ever you are ready," Nodoka informed her son.

Ranma nodded and focused on one of two training dummy ten meters away from him. He decided to start with the Telekinetic Acceleration Attack. Willing his power forth several small rocks rose up around Ranma. With a gesture from his hand toward the training dummy the rock flew forward at speeds far greater than that of a high velocity sniper rifle. In the blink of an eye the rocks penetrated the wooden training instrument and then rocketed out the back before falling back to the ground. "Whoa," Ranma said as he observed the damage. Because of the number of rocks the training dummy was covered in dozens of holes all the way through.

"Well said," Yugi commented. Ranma's short comment summed up the senior Saotomes.

"I guess I'll try out Mind Bolt now," Ranma said. He willed his Psionic Power into focus once again only this time he collected it to a single point right in front of him at chest level and thirty centimeters from his chest. It only took second to gather the necessary energy, because he was using only the minimal amount of energy for the power, and then willed it at the target. The Mind Bolt shot forward at about the half the speed of a bullet and impacted the second dummy and sending it flying back. When the four generations of the Saotome line went to inspect the damage close up they saw the chest of the dummy had a spider web like crack pattern in the chest.

"The amount of force necessary to do that would have broken a man's ribcage," Kaori commented. "If Ranma had added more energy to the Mind Bolt if could have blown the dummy up."

"Very impressive Son," Nodoka said. "I'm sure these abilities will serve you well."

"I could not agree more," Nanami added. "But this display only strengths the need for caution Great Grandson."

"That's what Jake told me when he taught them to me," Ranma said.

"Even if Jake is just a mental image of the man that originally drowned in the Spring his advice is sound," Yugi commented. "I wish I could meet him in all honesty. He sounds like a good man."

"He's the best Sensei I've ever had that's for sure," Ranma said. In the back of Ranma's mind Jake smiled at the compliment. It was at this moment that Ranma's stomach announced that it needed to be filled. "Guess its getting close to dinner."

Yugi checked his watch, "You're right it is getting close to dinner time. I don't think there is enough time to fix anything however."

"Then we'll just go out eat then," Nodoka said. "It has been too long since we've eat out together."

"I think your right, Daughter," Kaori agreed. "Besides if meeting my Grandson again after so long is not a reason to celebrate then I do not know what is."

"Then I suggest we all get cleaned up," Nanami halfway ordered. "We can't go to a nice restaurant like this now can we." The five other Saotomes looked at their clothes and noticed their closes were in various amounts of dirt on them, Ranma being the most because he word out. With a group nod they headed back into the house to get ready for a long over due evening as a family.

In another part of Tokyo an ally started to spark and ripple with energy. The anomaly started out as a small blue glowing hole in the air and quickly spread to over two meters in height and a meter in width with streams of light flowing form the edges. If anyone was around they would be awed by the sight, if that person had the ability to sense Ley Lines they would have known this was disruption in the Ley Line Energy of the area. If a person had the ability to use Magic they would have known that this disruption was caused by an extremely high level spell. And if a person were strong enough in Magic they would have realized that the disruption was in fact a portal to another world, or more commonly known in the Megaverse as a Rift.

Not more than tend seconds after the Rift was opened two people stepped out of the Rift. After they stepped back away from the Rift, it closed sealing itself up as if it never existed. If anyone were watching it would be clear that these two individuals, both female, were not from around here. The two people were wearing what could only be described as futuristic armor molded off of old designs. One looked like it was molded off of a Medieval Knight while the other looked inspired by the armor from Feudal Japan. Both carried a assortment of weapons, the Knight had a sword on her back that looked like a long sword, a gun on her hip that and a rifle on his back; the Samurai had what looked like a traditional Daisho on her left side and another sword on her back along with some arrows and a bow in her left had was a strange looking gun held at her side. Each armored figure also carried an odd travel pack that looked to be made out of material that looked like cloth but would shimmer every so often like metal. The last thing about these women that separated them from the average citizen, were the metallic limbs that could just barely be made out under bits of their armor. To the people of this Earth there was no name for them. To the people of Rifts Earth, however, one was Cyber-Knight and the other was a Cyber-Ronin

"Where do you think we are now?" the Cyber-Knight asked speaking in English and taking off her helmet, revealing she was a young woman of European or North American Descent in her late teens with long brown hair and green eyes. "That last Seer said we'd end up on Earth, just not necessarily our Earth."

The Cyber-Ronin also took off her helmet revealing Japanese Ancestry also in her late teens with her black hair down to her mid back and dark brown eyes. "I'm not sure," she answered also in English. He accent was noticeable it did nothing to the pronunciation of her words. After she looked around she noticed a small sign in a darkened window. "This is written in Japanese, so there is a good chance we're in a Japan, at least."

"Then we should speak Japanese," the Cyber-Knight said in Japanese. This time it was her voice that accented and her pronunciation unhindered. A brief survey from the area also revealed a piece of vital information. "Look," she gestured overhead, "Electrical Lines, that means there is at least some level of technology here."

"No telling if they practice Cybernetics though," the Cyber-Ronin pointed out also speaking in Japanese now.

"So you're suggesting we remove our armor and try to cover our Cybernetics then," the Cyber-Knight concluded.

"For now at least," the Cyber-Ronin said. "Don't forget how we met."

"How could I forget?" the Cyber-Knight asked. "Those locals of that place thought we were some kind of possessed suites of Armors. Alright, its not like we'll be help less our Cybernetics should protect us enough unless we fight in a major battle." She started taking off her armor revealing rather plain looking brown cotton shirt underneath. "I think we should keep at least one weapon on us, just concealed."

"That's not a problem for you," the Cyber-Ronin commented taking off her armor as well and revealing a green silk shirt underneath. "You've got the Psi-Sword of yours, you can call it out anytime you want." She then shook her head, "I've really go to learn to do that. Still I guess you're right."

"Hey like I said before it all it takes is training," The Cyber-Knight replied removing the last of her armor. And started putting it into her travel pack. "I love these Technowizard Packs, they store a lot of stuff." After placing her Armor in the pack she placed all her weapons except her Vibro-Longsword. Reaching in she pulled out a trench coat with long sleeves that would cover he Cybernetic left arm that was exposed do to her short-sleeved brown shirt. After putting on the trench coat she placed her Vibro Sword into the coat hiding it from view.

"Yeah I know," the Cyber-Ronin replied mimicking her companion, although she placed the katana that was on her back into her coat instead of either her Vibro-Katana or Vibro-Wakasashi. "Now lets find out where we are and see if we we're home then we find some way to get there." The Cyber-Knight nodded and followed her companion out in the streets of Tokyo.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Nabiki looked at the Shrine in front of her with more than a bit of trepidation. The Shrine was the Saotome Shrine, the place she was confident that she would find information on Ranma. The reason why she was nervous was because of the information she was able to find on the Saotome Clan. The Clan was a Devil Hunter Clan and one of the most powerful. Two weeks ago she would have just scoffed at the idea of the supernatural. But after witnessing a man change into a Panda and back depending on the water temperature he was a exposed to and a teenager with a glowing energy shield, Nabiki became much more open minded.

When Nabiki originally planned on coming to the Shrine she had no idea of the Saotome Clan's history. Nabiki had planned on coming to the Shrine on Saturday after classes and speak with Saotome Nanami about the arranged marriage. From the information she got on the Clan the Saotomeos did actively practice the tradition. Even if Genma was not the Head of the Clan all he had to do was get permission and the contract would be legitimate. Nabiki planned on her being the one Ranma would be engaged to, he had too much to offer to pass onto her Sisters, also there was the fact that Akane hated boys and Kasumi was already interested the local Chiropractor, Dr. Tofu.

That plan changed that Saturday when one of her flunkies came up to her and gave her more information on the Saotome Clan. This information was from 'alternative' sources and detailed just how the Saotome Clan survived over the centuries. When she read the file she paled a bit at the revelation that the Saotomes were Devil Hunters. That meant they dealt with creatures that actively killed, enslaved, and maybe tortured innocent people on a regular basis. The lackey gave her the information made a joke about how anyone could believe in those kinds of things in the Modern World. Nabiki did not respond only thinking that unless she witnessed what she had a few days ago she would have agreed.

For the next three days she had to think about how to proceed. On one hand the Saotomes did have several connections to the more 'public' societies of Japan, that made marrying into the Clan an almost sure fire way to become a successful Business Woman; one of her life long goals. On the other hand there was the continued threat of death or even worse at being associated with such a Clan. Finally Nabiki decided that she needed more information, and there was only one real place to get it, the Saotome Shrine. Bringing her to her present location.

With a deep breath to settle her nerves Nabiki stepped onto the Shrine Grounds. As she entered she saw an old woman sweeping the stone pathway up to the main Shrine building. Nabiki recognized this woman as Saotome Nanami from a picture in the information she had.

"Hello Tendo Nabiki," Nanami greeted. "Some friends of mine have informed me that some of your friends have been looking into my Clan. Care to explain why?"

Nabiki felt a shiver run up her spine, 'This will be a lot harder then I first thought,' Nabiki thought. "Yes it involves you're Great Grandson and my Family."

"I thought at much," Nanami replied. "Come we'll talk inside and see if you have anything worth saying."

Nabiki winced slightly, 'Haven't even begun the meeting and I'm already behind in the negotiation. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew this time.' Nabiki's face settled into a focused face as she followed Nanami into the main Shrine building to discuss what if any kind of a future she might have with the Saotome Clan.

At the same time Nabiki was entering the Saotome Shrine a certain Saotome and his new friend, Misago entered a location of Nabiki's territory, namely Furinkan High. "I really don't want to be here," Ranma said. "I might run into the Tendo Family again."

"You aren't the only one that doesn't want to be here Ranma," Misago said. "As much as you don't want to be here I can guarantee that I don't want to be here even more. But your Great Grandmother said that one of her friends recognized someone performing Japanese Voodoo and not very well at that."

"Then what's the problem and why don't you want to be here?" Ranma asked.

"The problem is that in practicing magic you really need to know what you're doing before hand," Misago started to explain. "If you don't then one of three things can happen. One, nothing and you've essentially wasted you're time. Two, you get lucky and the spell works. Three, you're not lucky and the spell backfires or does not do what it's suppose to. The last two are the problem; if a spell works depending on the spell it can be anything from curing someone's cold to blowing up a good section of the area, if the spell backfires or gets miscast that's when things get really bad. Anything and everything can happen then from a demon being summoned to turning people into jello."

"Jello?" Ranma asked.

"Don't ask, just one of my Mother's old stories," Misago answered.

"Ok so what about you not wanting to be here?" Ranma asked again.

"Well there's this guy that goes to school here," Misago started to explain. "He's this total moron that thinks he some kind of Samurai. He also thinks he's a Devil Hunter, and has come by the Shrine a few times demanding training. No one demands training from Mistress. When she told him no he went into the rant about 'Devine Right' or some crap like that. What's really bothering me is that he keeps come by and when I first started staying at the Shrine he said 'If you can defeat me I'll allow you to date me' and attack me. I defended myself and knocked him out. Now he thinks we're going out."

"Oh," Ranma said. "So who is this guy?"

"His name is…" Misago tried to say by was interrupted.

"You do not need to introduce me Fair Keeper of the Shrine," a tall teenage boy with brown hair and dark brown eyes, dressed in traditional samurai clothing. "For I shall introduce myself." Striking a dramatic pose the boy began, "I am the Undefeated Champion of the High School Kendo World and Noble Devil Hunter of the Kuno Clan, Kuno Tatawaki age seventeen. But to friend and foe alike I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" A crash of thunder accompanied the end of the speech. It would have been impressive if not for the fact a small man dressed as a ninja was playing a recording into the schools sound system. "Now what brings the Fair Keeper of the Shrine to my Noble Personage, and who is this peasant that accompanies you?"

Misago had been looking for a way to get Kuno off her back for weeks, because refusals and knocking him out did not work Misago asked Nanami for help. The retired Devil Hunter said that the best way to deal with people as delusional as Kuno was to use their delusions to their advantage. Kuno's insult of Ranma just gave Misago the opportunity she needed to get Kuno to leaver her alone, at least for a while. Whispering to Ranma Misago said, "Just play along and I can get us out of this and we can go to work." Ranma nodded although what he really wanted to do was flatten this idiot. All of Ranma's See Aura and Empathy were telling him this guy was weak, compared to him and almost completely crazy. "Kuno hare dare you insult the Saotome Clan and their Shrine?" Misago accused.

Taken back by the accusation Kuno blinked several times. "The Blue Thunder would never insult the great and noble Clan Saotome."

"But you just did," Ranma said. He agreed play along and had an idea where Misago was going with this. By using the founding principle of Aikido, use the enemy's force against him to defeat him, Ranma figured out what Misago was planning. Misago was using Kuno's force, his delusions, to defeat him.

"I have done no such thing!" Kuno yelled. "Who are you to judge me?"

'Got him,' Misago thought. "Why he is Saotome Ranma," Kuno visibly flinched at the name, "And he happens to be Mistress Saotome's Great Grandson and the only Heir to the Saotome Line." Kuno was now very pale, to insult a Clan of higher standing was among the worse things a Samurai could do and he just did. "You will have to make amends to the Saotome Clan but how will be up to Mistress Saotome. For now I suggest you leave us be unless you insult Ranma again."

"The Blue Thunder give you my sincerest apologies Saotome," Kuno bowed low. Ranma taking a queue from an old Martial Arts film he once saw simply turned his head away from the bow indicating he did not accept and completely dismissed Kuno. Kuno for his part seethed at the insult, but even in his twisted view of a Samurai he had no cause to act on the insult. Kuno had erred and made the first insult and Ranma was well within his rights to refuse the apology, at least until his Great Grandmother spoke otherwise. "I shall take my leave." Kuno backed away after that.

After Kuno was gone Ranma broke out in a fit of laughter, "The idiot actually bought it!"

"I knew he would," Misago said laughing as well. "This won't stop him in the long run, nothing does. But it will get him to leave us alone. We'll tell Mistress what happened and she'll send him on some near impossible quest to make up for slight. It'll keep him busy for weeks at least."

"Now that he's taken care of, let's get to work," Ranma said activating his Sense Magic Psionic Power.

"Yeah," Misago agreed. Ranma scanned the area for a few minutes until he stopped looking in the direction of a small shack near the south side of the School. "Find something?"

"Yeah, it seems to be coming from shack over there," Ranma pointed at the shack. "Its faint though."

"Well lets check it out," Misago said taking the lead. Ranma quickly followed ready to activate one of his offensive Psionic Powers. Ranma sensed someone was definitely in the shack using Magic, though at an extremely low level. "There's someone in there but he's barely using any amount of Lay Line Energy its like he really doesn't know how to channel it at all."

"That's good," Misago replied. "All spells require a minimum of energy to even begin. If he's using such a small amount then the spell will probably just fizzle out." She then took a contemplative look, "Still we should probably discourage him from trying again."

"How do we do that?" Ranma asked.

"You up for a little scare tactics?" Misago replied.

"No," Ranma answered honestly. "I can sense the guy in there is really weak, I would feel to much like a bully doing that."

"I guess you have a point," Misago sighed. "Still we do need to stop him."

Inside the shack a pale, weak, almost sickly looking boy was crouched over a small cooking pot with boiling water in it. In the boy's hands were several weeds that he thought were magical herbs. "With this Akane will finally be see me," the boy muttered. "Then I can go out with her." His thoughts drifted to a supposed date in the near future. It was too bad for him that his daydreaming caused him to drop the weeds into the fire that was boiling the water.

Because these weeds had been dried for a week they were highly flammable. The result was they caught fire and some of the embers drifted to some oil stained rags catching them or fire. "AH FIRE!" the boy yelled as one of the walls caught fire as well.

On the outside Ranma heard the voice at the same time he felt the boy panic. With an application of his Telekinesis, Ranma ripped the door of the shack of its hinges and then pulled the boy to safely, also with Telekinesis. "What the hell did you do?" Ranma demanded of the boy still being suspended in may by Ranma's Psionic Power.

"We…well I…I was t…trying," the boy stuttered in fright, both from the fire and the fact he was floating in mid air.

"Forget him we have to put the fire out!" Misago exclaimed. Ranma nodded dropping the pale boy to the ground and followed after Misago as she ran off to find some water. Ten minutes latter the fire was finally out, though the shack was nothing more than pile of smoldering debris.

"Alright the fire's out," Ranma said. "Now where did that wanna be magic user go?"

Misago looked around finding no one but themselves in the School Yard, "I think he might have ran off when we were distracted by the fire."

"Do we go after him?" Ranma asked.

"No," Misago answered with a sigh. "I don't think the guy knew what he was doing. With the minute amount of magic you sensed and the smell of burnt weeds from the fire I would say the guy doesn't have a clue on how to use magic. Without the right ingredients and reserves there's nothing he can really do. Well except burn down a shack that is. Come on lets just go home."

"Sure," Ranma nodded feeling this trip had been nothing but a waste of time.

In a small hotel room the Cyber-Knight and the Cyber-Ronin were talking about their current situation. "From what I can tell this Earth has a greater computer network then Home does," the Cyber-Ronin said. "It's no where near as advanced as the ones were used to but it does have a lot of information. I learned from the 'World Wide Web' as they call it the closest thing they have to Cybernetics is clumsy prosthetic limbs. So if we get damaged we'll have to fix ourselves." The Cyber-Knight nodded, both were proficient enough with technology to made minor repairs to their artificial body parts but they would need help if those parts were severely damaged. "The question now is what do now, Susan?"

"I think the first thing we should do is find a more permanent and private residence, Aki" Susan answered. "You've already converted out Credits to the local currency so money won't be a problem for a while but we can't stay here."

"I agree," Aki replied. "I don't want some Cleaning Lady to come in here and look through our gear when we're out. I'll start to search for a place to stay." The Cyber-Ronin flipped a panel on her left arm and a small screen appeared. The screen started to flash with several images of buildings searching for what Aki was looking for. "We don't want an apartment for the same reason we can't stay here, the chances of someone coming in are too high. Looks like there are three places that would work best for us. All three are small houses that for one reason or another went up for sale recently."

"Can you cover the of any of the houses from here?" The Cyber-Knight asked. "The smaller the exposure to the populace the better."

"Afraid not," Aki answered. "All of them require a signature."

"No choice then," Susan conceded. "Set up a meeting for tomorrow and we'll get this done as soon as possible. Also make sure we have proper I.D. Lying goes against both our Codes but this time we'll have to make an exception."

"Yeah I'll have to change our ages on our Identifications so we can purchase the property." Aki said. "Now the question is, which one do we go for?"

"I'd say we go for one that's near a store that's willing to deliver food and the like," Susan answered. "Again less exposure."

"I hate this sneaking around, makes me feel like a Ninja," Aki complained as she looked through the data on the screen.

"I know," Susan said. "A Knight should not hide from the people, but it can't be helped. These people have no idea what we are and that will definitely cause a lot of problems."

"Yeah I know," Aki sighed. "Ok I found a store that will deliver groceries and take orders over the phone near one of the houses."

"Where is it?" Susan asked.

"In the Meguro Ward on the other side of the city," Aki informed her friend. "I've already set up an appointment with the realtor for three days from now. It'll take that long to get our ID's ready."

"That's fine," Susan asked. "Next question, once we have a more private residence, what then?

"I think we should concentrate on trying to find a way back to our Earth," Aki responded. "Magic doesn't seem to be all that prevalent on this world so finding someone that can open a Rift is highly unlikely."

"Technology is also highly improbable as well," Susan added. "You said it yourself the tech of this world is not as advanced as ours. The likelihood that they have the ability open a Rift through technology is probably nil."

"In other words we're going to be stuck here for quite a while," Aki summarized with some dejection. "So what do we do in the meantime? We can't hide forever."

"We'll do what we've always done," Susan answered. "Just not as public as we did before."

Author's Note: There may have been some confusion in terms of Jake. Jake came to Ranma's world seven hundred years ago through a Rift. A Rift is a tare in time space and dimension so passing through one can literally send a person to any point and just about any time in the Megaverse. I hope this clears up any confusion about Jake's origins.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Ranma was once again in his mind talking with Jake. He was here because of a couple of reasons. One he met with his family and they discussed some ways to cure his Neko-ken the involved Psionic Powers and a story he caught on the news about some people in what looked like futuristic yet medieval style armor.

When Ranma learned of the different procedures in dealing with the Neko-ken he was greatly surprised. It turns out that process involved learning the Neko-ken ended up combining three different rituals to enhance the learner; Animus Ritual merging an animal spirit with a human, External Ki Infusion, a process originally designed to strengthen a person that suffered from some kind of Ki depletion, and Demonic Summoning, binding a demon to a person or a person to the demon. In terms of good and evil the Animus Ritual would be considered good, the Demonic Summoning would be evil and the External Ki Infusion would actually be considered neutral because of Ying and Yang. The problem arouse because while the External Chi Infusion could be combined with the other two, Animus Ritual and Demonic Summoning could never be combined. The result of the combination of the two opposing forces created a cat like personality that was extremely aggressive and vindictive to nearly all those who had wronged him. The External Ki Infusion just made it worse by giving the victim enough Ki to from claw like weapons.

The process to remove the combined effect was a very long and difficult process. Like the instilling of the Neko-ken the removal procedure also involved a combined process. Priests or other Holy Men were needed to remove the Demonic Summoning and Sorcerers or some other experienced Magic User were needed to needed to remove the Animus Ritual. Both had to be removed at the same time because the longer a person had the Neko-ken the more the processes intertwined. This would eventually lead to the person being permanently stuck in the Neko-ken. Then there was the psychological damage done, the pathological fear of cats. It often took years to decades of psychotherapy for a person to keep from running in fear or going completely catatonic at the sight of a cat; even then they would still be afraid of cats, it was just on a more manageable level.

With Ranma's Psionic Power he had a far greater understanding on how the mind worked then even psychologists with decades of experience did. Also with Ranma's 'coach', Jake, it was their hope that Ranma would be able to handle if not cure his fear of cats.

The other reason, the sightings of people in armor reminded Ranma of a discussion Jake and he had once. The discussion was centered on the training on to call forth the Psi-Sword. All people with the Psionic Potential to use the Super Category have an instinctual knowledge on how to form the Psi-Sword. Psi-Warriors are trained to use the Psi-Sword and can make them due more damage, as the Psi-Warrior gets stronger. A Mind Melter does the same thing and only needs a couple of moments to call it forth. For Ranma the Psi-Sword is naturally more powerful then most at his level and all it takes is a thought and the sword comes forth. Still even with Ranma's natural Psionic Power it paled in comparison to a group of warriors who became pseudonymous with Psi-Swords, the Cyber-Knights. Jake only mentioned that when a Cyber-Knight summons his Psi-Sword it required no effort and no drain. How this was accomplished was the secret of the Cyber-Knights. He also said that got their name because of the unique Cyber-Armor that all the Knights where, once again the specifics of the Armor were the secret of the Knights.

Inside the Mental Dojo Jake was waiting as he always was, "So you think a Cyber-Knight could be here in Tokyo."

"Yeah," Ranma replied. "What are the odds that a Cyber-Knight is here?"

"Hard to say in all honestly," Jake answered. "Natural Rifts are unpredictable in formation and destination. You could go a few kilometers or you could go to whole new world, dimension and time. Then there are unnatural means, some mage could send you somewhere any number of reasons; spite, like what happened to the original Jake or they could have been hired by a person to open a Rift for personal reasons. The truth if one person could come here from Rifts Earth then any number of other people could come as well. If this armored person is Cyber-Knight then I would suggest you find him or her. Cyber-Knights have a high code of honor, the Code of Chivalry, and Psi-Warriors often join forces with them because their goals are often the same. They could be a good ally for you're Clan."

"I'll let Mom know that," Ranma said. "Now about the c…c…c…the furry things."

"For the short term you can keep yourself from entering the Neko-ken with your Suppress Fear," Jake answered. "When you see a…feline, quickly activate the Psionic Power and you won't feel the fear completely. As it is a pathological fear it will take greater effort to suppress the fear. For the long term, once the Neko-ken is removed then it will be easier to control the fear and eventually you can be cured of it. But that will take years of meditation to accomplish.

"At least its something," Ranma said. "Hey before I leave, is there anyway we can talk without me Meditating?"

"Not until you learn Commune With Spirits," Jake answered. "And you're a bit of a ways off until you reach that level."

"Oh well, thanks for the advice I'll see you later," Ranma said before exiting the Mental Dojo.

When Ranma opened his eyes he saw the worried look of his Mother staring at him. When she saw Ranma open his eyes she sighed of her worry, "Are you alright Ranma? When you did not come down for dinner I got worried and came up to see if anything was wrong. I found you Meditating but unlike previous times you did not respond when I tried to awaken you."

"Yeah I'm fine," Ranma answered. "And sorry for making you worry but talking with Jake can sometimes take a while."

"I see," Nodoka replied. "Well what did he have to say about the Neko-ken?"

"He said I can handle it with a Psionic Power, Suppress Fear and after it's removed I might be able to be cured of the fear completely," Ranma answered. "Also did you see those reports on an armored person helping people?"

"Yes, do you know what they could be?" Nodoka asked.

"Sort of," Ranma answered. Ranma when on to recount his conversation with Jake about Cyber-Knights and the possibility that this armored figure could be one of them.

When Nodoka heard this she became contemplative. After a few minutes of debate Nodoka said, "I think we should investigate these sightings. Our Clan has always sought allies for our cause and if they are a 'Cyber-Knight' then they could be of a great help to us. And I believe we can be of great help to them as well."

"Why do you say that Mom?" Ranma asked.

"Well Son, if they are from 'Rifts Earth' then they are most certainly unaware of how our world works," Nodoka replied. "We can offer him or her refuge and teach them how to survive here."

"Oh I see, we form a, I think its call, a mutually beneficial deal," Ranma responded. "We help him or her adjust to living here and he or she helps us fight."

"Correct," Nodoka nodded. "We'll begin searching tomorrow for now come down stairs and eat." Nodoka did not have to tell Ranma twice, in the blink of an eye he was on his feet and three steps out the door. Nodoka just shook her head at the display, 'At least he has reasonable table manners. I half way expected him to eat the food like one of those American Wood Chippers.'

Half way across the Tokyo the Cyber-Knight and Cyber-Ronin were witnessing one of the most odd sights they had ever seen, and considering they came from a world where Magic, Psionics, Advanced Technology, Monsters, ect. where everyday occurrences that was saying a lot. What they saw was a young man around their age with a yellow and black bandanna was walking around a street lamp in a circle several times before he would stop, look at a well-worn map and repeat the procedure.

"What do you think we should do?" Aki asked. "I mean he's not really doing anything other than walking around a pole, yet there is just something that seems wrong about this."

"I think we should help him," Susan said. "He does seem to be in trouble at least that is what it appears anyway."

"He does seem awfully distressed," Aki admitted.

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!" the teenage boy yelled.

"Well come on he's obviously needs help," Susan said jumping down to the street. Aki gave a shrug and followed her friend and partner.

The teenage boy walked around the light pole one more time before they landed. When he spotted them he got a curious look on his face. He reached into his extremely large pack and pulled out a phrase book. He started to speak in broken Egyptian trying to convey something to them. "Do you speak Japanese or if not 'English'?" Aki asked using the English for the word English.

"Oh you speak Japanese," the boy said relief clear in his voice. "Strange thought not many people in Egypt speak Japanese thought."

The pair of girls blinked a couple of times in confusion at the boy's proclamation. "We're not in Egypt," Susan replied. "We're in Japan."

"Oh then could you tell me how to get to Tokyo?" the boy asked.

"We're in Tokyo," Aki answered.

"Oh, then have you seen or heard of a boy named Saotome Ranma or a place called the Tendo Dojo?" he asked yet again.

"Afraid not on both counts," Susan answered. She was unable to truly comprehend what was wrong with this boy so she could only answer his questions as honestly as possible.

"Well if you don't know where either Ranma or the Tendo Dojo is I'll just be on my way," the teenager said. He walked off without so much as a wave and was around the corner and out of sight.

"I don' think we were of much help to him," Aki commented.

"At least he's not circling the light pole anymore," Susan said. "I wonder why he was looking for this Saotome Ranma?"

"Not a clue," Aki answered. "Anyway let's get going we still have a pretty big area to cover tonight." Susan nodded and the two girls with Cybernetics left the area. No more than two minutes later a baby monkey came around the corner of a wall wearing a black and yellow bandanna with a very confused look on its face.

In Nerima Ward, Nabiki was thinking about her meeting with Saotome Nanami that occurred two days ago. The meeting was not very long but it was rather informative involving several of the new revelations about her life and some of the people in it.

(Flashback)

Nanami led Nabiki to a small low table with a tea set in the middle. When they sat down Nanami poured the tea and Nabiki accepted. "Now, unless I miss my guess you are here for information about what my Clan does, is that correct?"

"Yes," Nabiki admitted. The comments from just a couple of minutes ago had made it clear that this woman was not someone that Nabiki should try and swindle. Especially if what she read about was in fact true.

"Well let me assure you that, yes, the Saotome Clan are Devil Hunters," Nanami answered. "According some of my friends you know a great deal about us so we can skip over most of the beginning questions and get right to what is important."

"Will you honor the agreement between my Father and your Grandson in Law?" Nabiki asked.

"No," Nanami answered. "There is no reason to Honor that pledge as far as I and the rest of my Clan are concerned. We do practice arranged marriages but only when it benefits our Clan and our Duties as Devil Hunters. Neither your Father's nor your Mother's Ancestry has ever had a single Devil Hunter or similar role among them." Nanami took a sip of her tea and then continued, "Further more even if Ranma was just a Martial Artist I would not endorse the promise for, all practical terms, there are no Schools to unite. All Sanctioned Tournaments that are sponsored by the International Fighting Arts Association have banned the Yashai School, that is Genma's true family name by the way, because Genma has stolen several Schools' Techniques. And the Tendo School has not had any Practitioners other than your little Sister and Father for nearly ten years. So in essence uniting the Schools won't accomplish anything."

"So coming here was just a waste of my time then," Nabiki said.

"Not necessarily Miss Tendo," Nanami answered. "While marriage between my Great Grandson and you or your Sisters is highly unlikely that does not mean we cannot work something out."

"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked not understanding where this could be going.

"Our Clan does employ individuals that do not have Devil Hunter capabilities," Nanami answered. "For the most part their jobs are regulated to Information Control and Legal Matters. Two subjects that you seem to have a bit of a talent in, if I am to believe the reports my friends gave me."

Nabiki almost choked on her tea at what Nanami was suggesting, "Y…you're offering me a job?"

"Not exactly Miss Tendo," Nanami replied. "All I am saying is that for now you have caught my eye. If you impress me we will talk later and see what happens from there." Nanami finished her tea and went to stand up, "Now I have pressing matters I have to attend so I must end this meeting." Nabiki nodded absently and went to leave as well. At the entrance to the Shrine Nanami spoke again, "One more piece of advice, get rid of Genma as soon as you can. That man brings nothing but trouble to all those around him."

(End of Flashback)

Yesterday Nabiki looked into Genma's background and what she found made very worried for her Family. Genma had several warrants out of trespassing, theft, and assault, he was also wanted for questioning for the kidnapping of a young boy, name not given, form a hospital about eight years ago. With the warrants out for Genma that meant that having him stay in their home was harboring a wanted felon. Harboring a felon would eventually end up sending her Father to jail and bring attention to her less than legal practices as well.

'Daddy's friend has got to go,' Nabiki thought. 'For Daddy's own good, not to mention my own. But how do I get rid of him without drawing unwanted attention to us? If I call the police they'll start looking where I don't want to look. Maybe I could sell him to a zoo, just a little splash and a note saying his skin is sensitive to hot water. Then again the zoo will probably ask where we got an endangered species again that will bring questions I don't want to answer.' Nabiki looked up to her ceiling and thought about what Nanami mentioned, 'I've caught her eye and she wants to be impressed. The question in how do I impress someone like her? I doubt my usual business deals will impress a person who has faced Demons, but still to even have an opportunity like this. It could mean a lot for us; the kind of information control a Devil Hunter Clan would have to pay well. I mean I can picture what everyone's reaction would be if they learned if all those stories meant scare us as children were true, mass panic and rioting. I'll have to give both some serious thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

It was just after sunset when Ranma and Nodoka entered the part of the Tokyo that had the greatest sightings of the mysterious armored warriors. Both were dressed in everyday clothes, Ranma his usual Chinese design that was made of the same material as his uniform and Nodoka in black pants and purple blouse combination also made out of the same material. The sightings around the city were actually quite numerous. With a little more digging when Ranma was at School during the day, Nodoka discovered that there was at least two different people from the distinctive armor each wore; one like a Samurai and the other like a Knight. Nodoka voiced her findings to Ranma and all he could saw was that the design of the armor was often up to the individual Knight.

The confirmation of more then one individual armored person lent to the possibility that there could be other visitors from around the Megaverse and with them the possibility of more than just 'local' evils. The threats from the Megaverse were varied and incredibly dangerous. The supernatural threats would be challenging but within the experience the Devil Hunters could handle, the threats based on science on the other hand would be beyond what they had experienced before. This made finding out if these new people were Cyber-Knights or not and if not whether they were friendly or not.

Stepping out of the train station and into the Kita Ward of Tokyo. It was still early enough that several people stepped off with them and would be around for a while. Even with all the people around no one noticed Nodoka or Ranma, even if their swords were carried at their sides for easy access. Both Mother and Son had experience hiding in plane sight, Ranma from his training with Genma and Nodoka from her Devil Hunter work. Genma taught Ranma to be a Martial Artist/Thief that could avoid enemies in a crowded street and Nodoka learned to destroy Devils without the public knowing even in plain sight.

Moving through the crowd Ranma and Nodoka were each scanning the area in their own unique ways, Ranma with his See Aura and Empathy and Nodoka with her Ki and Devil Hunter Powers. The Devil Hunter Powers were a unique power that enhanced the abilities of a person so they could do more damage to Devils and Demons. In Nodoka and the rest of the Saotome women the powers were tied in with their Ki. For other Clans it would be tied in with their ways of Hunting Devils.

From Nodoka's research on the sightings of the armored individuals she found that even though there were sightings all over the area there were several reported encounters and sightings in one area. The plan was fairly straightforward, head for that are and try and find some kind of clue or even the individuals themselves. If they turned out to be Cyber-Knights then try and make contact, if not then observe and see what their intentions were.

After a ten minutes of walking Ranma and Nodoka entered the area. "Alright this is the general location," Nodoka informed Ranma. She pulled out a map from her back pocket and handed it to him. "Ranma how far do you're Psionic Powers extend in terms of detection?"

"My See Aura currently has a range of about fifty-six meters or so and my Empathy around ninety meters," Ranma answered. "Empathy doesn't give an exact location and for See Aura to be effective I have to be able looking at the person. What about you Mom? What's your range?"

"Only about one hundred and fifty meters I'm afraid," Nodoka answered. "That limits our range of search I'm afraid and my sensing abilities are more focused on finding Devils and Demons, not humans with powers similar to yours."

"I believe the saying is Needle in a Haystack for this situation," Ranma sighed. "And do you think we should split up, you know to cover more ground?"

"You would be correct in the saying Son," Nodoka agreed. "But I do not think we should just yet. We do not know what these people are truly capable of, only speculation. If they are not friendly then it would be better if we were together if we locate them incase support is needed. For now we will make do with what we have available. Now come along we won't get anything done if we just stand around here."

"Right," Ranma nodded following his Mother.

The pair searched for the next hour while remaining inconspicuous to the public at large. Ranma would every now and then shut off his Empathy, while still maintaining his See Aura, when the emotions from the crowd would start to overwhelm his mental defenses. Nodoka and Ranma would take a quick break when this happened and then once Ranma was rested they would continue. It was during one of these breaks that Nodoka suddenly stiffened and reached to draw her Katana. When Ranma saw this he immediately reactivated his Empathy and reached for his sword as well. If they were in an more isolated location Ranma would have forgone his Chinese Broad Sword and activated his Psi-Sword. Unfortunately a glowing Psionic construct would draw attention to themselves even with their abilities to stay inconspicuous normally.

When his Empathy was brought up Ranma immediately sensed high levels of hate and aggression from near by. Unfortunately even with his Empathy and See Aura on Ranma was not able to pinpoint the source of the emotions. Then suddenly his Sixth Sense, a Psionic Power that alerts him when he is in danger, flared. Without a second thought Ranma grabbed his mother and used Telekinetic Leap to launch them to the rooftop of a four-story building across the street. When they landed both Nodoka and her Son looked to where they were standing only a second ago and saw several bone like spines sticking out of the wall.

Nodoka narrowed her eyes as she with drew her Katana from its sheath and stated to search the area. With experience she acquired from tracing projectile attacks in the line of duty as a Devil Hunter, Nodoka quickly located the source of the bones. They came from a building three buildings down, where seven shadowed figures were standing.

Ranma followed his Mother's gaze and saw the figures as well. He could not make out the detail because of the low light and the group was just out of his See Aura range, but still within his Empathy range. What he sensed was hate directed towards his Mother and surprise directed toward him. "Mom what are those?" Ranma asked. Judging from the level of hate Ranma concluded that she and they had run into each other before.

"Most likely some Bone Oni," Nodoka answered. "About fifteen years ago I and a couple of other Devil Hunters found a nest of them in some old subway tunnels. We cleared them out but some escaped and every now and then some show up trying to seek revenge against me."

"What are their powers?" Ranma asked.

"Projectile Bone Fragments and Bone Weapons," Nodoka answered. "Also they're bodies can be as strong as a rock."

Ranma took the hint and sheathed his and put is on his back. With a few seconds of focus Ranma willed his Psi-Sword into existence. At the same time Nodoka activated some of the special abilities of her sword and it started to glow a soft white light. Apparently the sight of two glowing swords was the signal for the shadowed figures to attack once again because a second barrage of bones came hurling at them.

In a dual display of superb swordsmanship and flexibility both Mother and Son used their unique weapons to parry and dodge the bone projectiles. While he was twisting and bending Ranma targeted one of the enemies and sent a medium powered Mind Bolt at him. The Mind Bolt struck the enemy right in the chest knocking it down. The others seeing their companion fall jumped from their roof to Nodoka and Ranma's location.

When the six figures Ranma finally got a clear view of what they looked like. They stood hunched over with bone like spines coming out of the a hump on their backs. It they were standing erect they would be a head taller then he was. Their arms were extended and heavily muscled with Bone Protrusions sticking out of the elbows and just behind the wrists on top of their forearms. Their skin color varied from ebony black to blood read. Their eyes were small and shifty and colored yellow. Their faces were surprisingly human but with fangs sticking out of their upper and lower lips. From Ranma See Aura he could tell that most were a little weaker then him but two, a red and a black one were actually stronger.

One with black skin spoke. His voice a mix between a grunt and throaty growl, "Hunter and Boy kill brothers, we kill you!" The bones on the Oni started to elongate and change into bladed weapons.

Nodoka and Ranma brought their weapons to bare as the Bone Oni started to close in on them. "Be careful Ranma Bone Oni are very vicious in battle," Nodoka warned.

Ranma nodded not taking his eyes off the Bone Oni for a second. 'Right now their numbers are their biggest advantage. Even if they were to lose one of their group the odds would shift in our favor a lot.' Looking around the roof Ranma searched for a way to help even the odds. What he found were bits of concrete that were broken from the second bone attack behind two of the weaker Oni. 'That will do nicely.' Ranma focused his Psionic Power and made the small bits of damaged roof rise about one and a half meters. Nodoka saw this and eyed her Son letting him now she knew what he was planning. Ranma smirked a little and let loose his attack.

Traveling at hypersonic speeds caused by the Telekinetic Acceleration Attack the bits of concrete sped at the two Bone Oni. In less than a second the Psionic Attack shredded the two Oni from behind. Their screams of pain caused their fellow Bone Oni to shift their attention away from the Psi-Warrior and Devil Hunter. At this lack of attention Nodoka and Ranma charged the Oni with their swords ready to strike them down.

Not far away the pair of armor clad figures that Nodoka and Ranma were looking for previously heard the inhumane scream and rushed off in the direction of the sound. When they arrived at the source of the scream they saw two humans with glowing swords cut two Bone Oni down in one blow and start to fight off the two remaining in close quarters combat. What truly drew their attention was the teenage boy around their age and his particular glowing sword, "A Psi-Sword?" Aki asked. "Is he another Cyber-Knight?"

"I doubt it," Susan answered. Movement from behind the woman caught Susan's attention as one of the Oni started to stand back up. "Damn neither sees that thing getting up." She reached behind and withdrew her rifle and brought it up aiming at the standing Oni. "Lets see how these Oni like a taste of a Pulse Riffle!" Susan sighted the Oni through the scope of the Pulse Riffle and squeezed the trigger. The burst of energy shot out of the barrel at the speed of light across the roof tops impacting the Bone Oni right in the chest burning a massive hole all the way through its back. "Come on lets go!" Shouldering the Pulse Riffle the Cyber-Knight leapt to the next roof towards the battle.

"Right behind you!" Aki said drawing her Vibro-Katana from the sheath on her hip.

At the fight there was a brief pause a flash of yellow light streaked by hitting and killing one of the Bone Oni that was injured but not killed by Ranma's Telekinetic Acceleration Attack. The pause only lasted long enough to see where the shot came from and the subsequent sight of the new arrivals. With the shift in the in the battle the Bone Oni knew that unless they escaped they would be finished. The problem was if they tried to run now they would but down by one of Ranma's long range Psionic Attacks or that armor clad individual's strange weapon. That left them with only one option, try and kill the two they were facing quickly and then disappear into the shadows.

With the only option left to them the Oni started to redouble their attack in desperation. Nodoka being used to fighting this type of enemy only had a small bit of a challenge countering the savage yet highly effective swings of the red Bone Oni she was facing. As the Oni would swing it's sharpened bones at her she would use her sword to parry and redirect the attack and counter with a quick slash. So far all she was able to cut was the Oni's arms as it would block the slashes. Thanks to the special wards placed into her Katana however every one of the slashes to the arm would cause a sever burn to the Oni making it screech in pain. The Oni slashed again and when Nodoka parried the slash the bone sticking out of the elbow elongated and caught Nodoka by surprise. The bone blade slashed across her stomach but did not cut too deep as she was able to step back a just enough. Seeing that the Oni was now off balance Nodoka decided to finish the fight and brought her glowing Katana in an upward slash cutting through the arm, shoulder and head all in one quick slash. With a spray of black blood the Bone Oni dropped to the rooftop in a heap.

While his Mother had experience fighting Bone Oni Ranma did not. This was the reason Ranma had been sliced in his right shoulder early in the fight. After that he activated his Deaden Pain and Psychic Body Field all the while silently cursing his own stupidity for not activating it earlier. As Ranma traded slashes with the Bone Oni he was amazed at the strength of the bone blades. He expected his Psi-Sword to cut through them with minimal effort but they were holding off his slashes, though with each slash a gouge would be cut in the bone. With a downward cut from Ranma and an diangle cut from the both of the arms of the Bone Oni the weapons became locked in a test of strength. Now Ranma was very strong for a human but it terms of physical strength Oni of any kind are still stronger, this was why despite Ranma's Psi-Sword digging into the blades, and he was being driven back. Ranma needed a way for to distract the Oni so he could focus more Inner Strength into his Psi-Sword so it would cut the bones. This was difficult because Ranma was using both his arms and all of his strength to keep the Oni at bay. With the need to hit the Oni to distract it and his limbs occupied Ranma activated yet another Psionic Power, Telekinetic Punch. The invisible hand decked the Oni in the stomach causing it to lose its strength for just a moment. That moment was all Ranma needed as he channeled more Inner Strength into his Psi-Sword increasing its strength. With yell and a powerful downward cut Ranma cut right through the bone blades and then quickly stabbed the Bone Oni in its chest killing it instantly.

With his enemy dead Ranma willed his Psi-Sword away and cut off his Psychic Body Field and activated his Increased Healing. At this point armored girls arrived and quickly separated to help. The Knight came up to Ranma while the Samurai went over to Nodoka. The Knight removed her helmet and introduced herself, "I am Lady Sterling Susan, Cyber-Knight. Here let me treat your wound."

"Saotome Ranma, Mind Melter Psi-Warrior," Ranma answered. "And I'm already using Increased Healing."

"This will help accelerate the healing even more," Susan reached into a pouch at her side and withdrew a small device. "It's a Techno-Wizard healing devise."

Ranma still had his Empathy activated, just incase these new arrivals were hostile, and knew Susan was telling the truth so he nodded and Susan went to work healing the wound. "Thanks for saving my Mom back there."

"No problem," Susan answered. "Is she a Psi-Warrior too?"

"No Devil Hunter," Ranma answered. Susan nodded and went back to work.

Not far away Aki was helping Nodoka. "I am Takata Aki, Cyber-Ronin. I have a devise that can treat that wound."

Nodoka was a bit taken back by the 'Ronin' part but considering the current circumstances and the fact that Aki's friend saved her life she let it slide. "Saotome Nodoka, Devil Hunter. The wound is not bad but it infected. Bone Oni are not known for their hygiene."

"Yeah we have them back home only they can be even nastier," Aki nodded. She took out a device just like Susan was using to on Ranma. After a few seconds she said, "Well there was some bacteria in the wound by this Techno-Wizard healing device killed all of them. The wound should be healed in a few seconds." Nodoka nodded but did not say anything and let Aki do her work.

Once Aki was finished healing Nodoka's woundthey went over to Ranma and Susan. Along the way a pulse from Nodoka's Katana flashed and then it stopped glowing and she reseathed it. They arrived just as Susan was finished healing Ranma. "I suggest we vacate this area," Nodoka said. "No doubt someone will come and investigate all the noise." No sooner then she said that the sounds of voices coming from the other side of the door could be heard. The four teenagers nodded and quickly followed Nodoka as she raced across the roofs at an impressive speed. Just before the door to the roof opened the bodies of the Bone Oni started to rapidly decay and quickly dissolved into dust.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

After the four warriors left the scene of the fight, Aki and Susan suggested that the small group head to their home. Nodoka and Ranma agreed because the Susan and Aki assured that it was private and relatively close. So the veteran Devil Hunter and the upcoming Psi-Warrior were guided the Cyber-Knight and Cyber-Ronin's modest house.

Once inside the two girls started to take off their gear to reveal what the armor was hiding. Susan had on a white shirt and jeans and the only visible piece of Cybernetics was her left arm. It was all the way up to her shoulder, silver in color, had the exact same proportions to her organic right arm and seemed to give her full range of motion. Aki was dressed in a green long sleeved shirt and dark blue pants. From Ranma and Nodoka's point of view they could only make out that her left hand and right foot were Cybernetic. Both synthetic limbs were a golden-bronze color, other than that they could not see anything more.

Knowing the customs of this Japan were very similar to her home Aki spoke first. "Would either of you like some tea?" she offered.

"Yes I would thank you Miss Takata," Nodoka replied. "I find a nice cup of tea calms the nerves after a fight."

"If you will excuse then I'll be back in a moment with the tea," Aki replied. The two remaining female and one male sat quietly waiting for Aki to return at the small low table in the main room of the house. The wait only lasted a few minutes and Aki returned with a tray and four steaming cups of tea. Once she handed the cups out she took her seat next to her partner and friend.

"First we must thank you for your help against the Bone Oni," Nodoka bowed.

"You are welcome it is my duty to help those in need," Susan began. "Now as we did not have time to finish introductions I would like to continue from there," Susan said. "I am Cyber-Knight Lady Sterling Susan and this is my friend and partner Cyber-Ronin Takata Aki."

"I am Devil Hunter Saotome Nodoka and this is my Son Psi-Warrior Saotome Ranma," Nodoka returned the greeting.

"I'm also a Mind Melter," Ranma added.

"I have never heard of a Mind Melter that was also a Psi-Warrior before," Susan confessed. "If I may ask, Mr. Saotome, how did you become a Psi-Warrior? No information we have been able to find would indicate that this Earth has people with the Psionic Level to be either much less the training necessary to become a Psi-Warrior."

"You can call me Ranma," Ranma said. Taking a sip of his tea Ranma made a slight sip as he debated on telling them the full story. But then he remembered that Jake told him Cyber-Knights were people of high honor and would never betray another's trust. "And how I became a Mind Melter and a Psi-Warrior is rather unique. Up until a few months ago I was a Martial Artist on a training journey with my Pop. We crossed over to China and made our way to a training ground. The training ground was a valley of springs called Jusenkyo and the place is saturated with Magic. When a person or animal drowns in those springs they become cursed or enchanted depending on your point of view. After that what ever falls into the spring takes the form of what last drowned there, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual." Ranma took another sip of his tea before he continued, "Seven Hundred years ago a man named Jake a Mind Melter and Psi-Warrior came to this world from Rifts Earth, he eventually made his way to Jusenkyo and fell into the spring. A little over three months ago I fell into that same spring and became what I am. I carry the powers and some of a mental imprint of the original Jake."

"Quite a story you have there Ranma. And feel free to call me Aki," Aki commented. "But what happened to your Father?"

"Indeed he does," Nodoka spoke up, "As to his Father he also feel into a spring and now turns into a Giant Panda when splashed with cold water and back human with warm. At least according to Ranma, we have not seen my Ex-Husband in quite some time. Now what about you're stories? Ranma has briefly told me about a Cyber-Knight but mentioned nothing about a Cyber-Ronin."

"I'm not surprised," Aki replied. "Most people from North America on Rifts Earth do not know about Japan and then its only rumors. Japan on Rifts Earth is kind of unique. Just before the coming of the Rifts some scientists were experimenting with multi dimensional space. The result was that Hiroshima and the surrounding one hundred and sixty kilometers were transported to a pocket dimension. On the outside world three hundred years passed and in that time the coming of the Rifts occurred. Then after everything settled down the land that disappeared reappeared. After some years of unrest everything was finally settled with and the Republic of Japan was formed inside Hiroshima and those one hundred and sixty kilometers. Inside the Republic of Japan there are many Cyborgs and Cyborg soldiers. One of those types are the Cyber-Samurai and a sub-group of them are Cyber-Ronin. I still follow Bushido, well expect for the no technology part of course. And Cyber-Ronin in the Republic of Japan are just Cyber-Samurai that do not have a Master and wonder the land like Cyber-Knights."

"And the difference between a Cyber-Knight and a Cyber-Samurai or Ronin is the fact that Cyber-Samurais often do not have any Psionic Powers and the minor differences in our Codes of Honors," Susan continued.

"If most people of North America don't know about Japan then how did you two meet?" Ranma asked.

"That is a long story actually," Susan answered. "But the short version is we were both caught in a two different Rifts and ended up in another dimensional relatively close together. After we met up and compared stories we decided to travel together and try and find our way home."

It was at this point that Aki voiced a question that had been bothering her from the time they left battle scene. "Ms. Saotome, I've been wondering what happens to all the bodies of dead after a fight like ours. When I searched the World Wide Web I only found stories and vague references about the supernatural. No true honest sightings just rumor.

"The reason you did not find anything other than rumors was because we Devil Hunters are very careful at keeping our activities from becoming public knowledge. In my case I have a ward imbedded into my sword that destroys the bodies of supernatural beings once they are dead." Nodoka answered. "It is an unfortunate reality that humans do not react well to things they do not understand. Some supernatural beings are quite friendly and mean no harm. We keep the general public from knowing what truly happens to keep the friendly beings and ourselves safe."

"We both know that fact all too well," Susan said. "We both have experience with humans that think everything not a human should be destroyed."

"What do you plan to do know that you are here, Lady Sterling?" Nodoka asked to change the subject.

"Well Ms. Saotome, we plan to find a Magic User that knows about dimensional travel and continue our journey back to Rifts Earth. In the meantime we will do what we always do, help people in need."

Nodoka nodded, "I see. We you'll allow us we may be able to help you on both those accounts. Our Clan has experience with Magic Users as well as help in your battles against evil."

"That would be most appreciative," Aki bowed with Susan following less than a second behind. "And if you ever need any help let do not hesitate in calling us."

Nodoka and Ranma returned the bows, "You are most welcome also if you ever need any assistance just contact the Saotome Shrine in Meguro. It is our Family Shrine and anyone there will help you as best they can." Nodoka then stood up saying, "Now Ranma and I must be going. It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you." The three teenagers stood up as well.

"The honor and pleasure was all ours, Ms. Saotome," Susan said back. "And we will be sure to stop by your Shrine."

After escorting the Saotomes to the door Aki returned to the living room to see Susan deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?" Aki asked.

"I'm thinking Ranma was rather handsome, don't you think?" Susan answered. Aki smirked but could not help but nod in agreement.

By the time Ranma and Nodoka made it to the train station it was well into the night. As they boarded both took notice that they were the only ones on the train. Nodoka took the opportunity of privacy to talk to her Son about earlier, "Ranma how are you feeling about killing those Oni?"

"To be honest I'm not too sure," Ranma said. "When I fought guy a couple of weeks ago and killed him I felt horrible. But this time, I don't know if it was because they were wanting to kill you or that they were clearly not human I don't know, I just don't feel all that guilty about killing them."

"I know the feeling," Nodoka said as her eyes took a reminiscent gaze. "When I first took up my sword and made my first kill it was against a Chinese Mystic he was completely human. After the fight I looked down into the eyes of his and I could not help but feel horrified at what I did." She then took Ranma's hand and looked into his eyes, "I almost gave up my sword that night."

'Mom killed a human?' Ranma thought. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I knew what the Mystic was doing," Nodoka answered. "He trying to poison a woman that rejected him and almost killed her for that. Can you believe it? A person using magic to kill an innocent woman just because she would not go out with him." Nodoka shook her head in disgust, "When I saw the woman the next day healthy and necking with her boyfriend I felt it was worth it. I also learned something then, being human is not a state of how one was born but of a state of mind and spirit. After that my duties became easier knowing that I was keeping innocent people like that woman safe from those with the mystical power to harm them, whether they were human or not."

Ranma closed his eyes in thought, 'How petty or for that matter crazy does a person have to be to want to kill someone because he or she won't go out with you? Would I have killed a human if he was using supernatural or magical powers to kill someone?' After several minutes of contemplation knowing what he knows about the world he nodded, 'Yes, I would. Mom's right there's more to being human then what something looks like. Jake told me all about those D-Bees, some were more humane then a lot of humans he came across.' Ranma opened his eyes and looked at his Mom he knew she was trying to say that her duties became easier not because killing became easier, but because she knew what she was fighting for and so did he. "I understand Mom and thanks."

In the morning, after Ranma left for School, Nodoka made her way to the family shrine to inform Nanami what she discovered and discussed last night. After the leisurely walk she came to the entrance of the Shrine. What, or rather who, Nodoka knew she would be getting a headache very soon. The person heard Nodoka walking up behind him and his face light up like Christmas Tree, "Ah Noble Swordswoman!" Kuno called out. "It does the Blue Thunder's eyes great glory to gaze upon you're fierce beauty!"

'I thought he was calling himself the Shooting Star the last time we met,' Nodoka thought with a sigh. "What brings you to our Shrine Young Kuno?"

"I have come to humbly ask for your Clan's forgiveness," Kuno said. "Do to some peasant's ill testimony I became enthusiastic when I met your Son. He mistakenly took offense to my exuberance and now I must make amends. But fear not, Noble Swordswoman! The Blue Thunder shall complete his valiant quest and restore the tranquility between our two Great Houses!"

Nodoka rolled her eyes at the act. "Then I shall not keep you from your task any longer Young Kuno. Good day to you."

"Good day to you Noble Swordswoman!" Kuno called as he left the Shrine grounds. "I am off to seek my destination."

"I see you ran into the Kuno Boy again," Nanami said when Nodoka entered the room. "Well we should not be seeing him for a few months at least. I sent him on a quest to find the hair from a Dragon's beard in Alaska. Now tell me what you found out." Nodoka recounted everything that happened the previous night while Nanami silently took it all in.

When Nodoka was finished she asked, "Do you believe we can find a sufficient Magic User to render them proper aide?"

"Magic is not my expertise by I do know that the kind of Magic needed to cross Dimensions is difficult at best to perform," Nanami answered. "To find someone with the skills necessary will be difficult at best and more than a little time consuming. I will however make some inquiries with our Magic User allies." The old leader of the Saotome Clan then changed the subject, "A couple of days ago a teenage girl came to the Shrine with information on Genma."

"Was it another Marriage Promise?" Nodoka asked. Most Promises were easily taken care of because Genma had no legal right to set them up. Some however were incredibly stubborn and tried to pursue regardless if Nanami canceled the agreement, like that Kounji man from a couple of years ago.

"As a matter of fact yes," Nanami answered. "But the strange thing about this one was that Genma actually planned to carry through with it."

"Oh and who was this girl?" Nodoka asked.

"Her name is Tendo Nabiki," Nanami replied. "Also it turns out that Genma is actually living at her Family's Dojo and making quite the annoying guest."

"So Genma finally showed up there," Nodoka mused. "What are the plans on dealing with him? Genma is more of a creature of habit then most people and his biggest habit is causing problems for us. If we don't take do anything soon then only greater trouble will follow."

"That I will leave to you and Ranma," Nanami answered. "If anyone should punish him it should be the ones that he wronged the most."

"Very well," Nodoka said stroking the handle of her katana. "I will tell Ranma when he gets home tonight and we'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will Granddaughter," Nanami said.

In Ranma's Classroom one of Ranma's Classmates was eyeing him from behind. In his hand was a devise that looked like a cross between a tracking devise and a palmtop computer. Every so often he would point it at Ranma, then type on the small keyboard, look at the screen and finally repeat the process. 'His energy has recently gone up,' the boy thought. 'What ever the source of his energy is I've got to figure it out. The readings I'm getting from him different from the ones I from Misago and Hinako-sensei. This is just too fascinating to pass up! Oh I can't wait to get home and analyze these latest readings!'


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

It was the end of another school day for Ranma, instead of heading home like he usually did he was asked to stay behind by Miss Hinako. He wondered why she asked him to stay behind and hoped that it was not for some stupid reason to ask him if he would by her some candy; she had already done that before and with her sad puppy-dog eyes Ranma easily caved. One thing Ranma was for certain it was not because he was in some kind of trouble. He was actually maintaining pretty descent grades and was not causing any disruptions to the class, much to his own surprise if he was completely honest with himself.

The reasons for Ranma's changed actions if school were rather easy to know if one knew Ranma. One he did not have Genma barking at him stop doing homework and use the time for some kind of useless and often times crazy/dangerous Martial Arts technique. Two he was far from bored in his Class, in the past Ranma always found school to be tedious at best but in this unique Class there was always something going on. Three Ranma was not causing any disruptions simply because there was no need for it, no one really bothered him and no one tried to fight him. Four, he was simply more mature they he would normally have been, his duties and training as a Psi-Warrior and Mind Melter saw to that. And finally there was the final reason, his Mother and the rest of his Family. As far as Ranma knew he was the Heir to the Clan, not just some Dojo that did not have any practitioners other than himself and his father. He did not want to disappoint his Family.

When he arrived at the Teacher's Lounge he knocked and the door opened revealing Miss Hinako in her adult form. Silently Ranma was happy for this because her adult form was much easier to deal with then her child form. She ushered him in and over towards her desk and he idly noticed that in addition to papers that needed to be graded there was also several boxes of sweets scattered around. "I suppose you are wondering why I called you to see me?" Hinako asked.

"Yeah," Ranma answered. "I've been doing alright and as far as I know I'm not causing any problems. You've only had to drain me once." That incident happened two days after he first started attending class. A couple of the girls had passed him some notes and some of them were rather explicit in what she wanted from him. He yelped in response and Hinako drained him for speaking out of turn. Nothing since then had happened, Ranma never liked feeling weak so it was best not to get on her bad side and get drained again.

"You are correct Mr. Saotome," Hinako stated. "The reason I wished to speak to you is not school related in all honesty." Ranma was taken by surprise by that statement. "I am well aware of your Clan's unique nature and I believe I have run into a problem that requires their unique talents."

Now Ranma turned completely serious. This could be potentially a very dangerous situation. "What kind of problem have you encountered Miss Hinako?"

"On my way to and from the school there is an only abandoned building that I pass everyday," Hinako started to explain. "Up until yesterday there was nothing out of the ordinary about the building however yesterday on my way home from I sensed something very odd coming from the building, something I have never sensed before." Hinako looked contemplative as she continued, "I have had the ability to drain another's Ki since I was a young girl and because of that I have a great deal of experience sensing the Ki around me. It is required so I do not drain too much and cause lasting harm. What I sensed last night could only be described as the bending of the ambient Ki inside the building. It disturbed me greatly when I passed by and I felt that I should let the proper people know about it."

"I'll tell my family about it as soon as I get home today," Ranma answered. "And we'll be sure to look into it."

Hinako suddenly shrank down to her child form just as she was about to answer, "Oh goody that place was really scary." Her eyes started to tear up and she looked up at Ranma, "Could you by me some ice-cream to make me feel better?"

Ranma sighed knowing that even if he had his Empathy activated and could tell for certain that she was faking her tears he would still cave into her request. He never could and probably never would stand the sight of a girl crying. "Fine lets go."

What Hinako did not know was that she was not the only one to detect the strange event that messed with her Ki senses. The boy in Ranma's class, Tsugari Yugi, a technological and scientific genius detected an unusual energy spike in the same building Hinako did.

Yuji was a certified genius with a recorded IQ well above 200. When he was a young boy many people believed that he would enter college at a young age and gain a Doctorate before he was twenty. Yuji to the dismay of many did not follow that route, instead he only made slightly above average grades in a personal attempt not to stand out, at least not publicly. In private Yuji put his true genius to work inventing several devises and computers that years if not decades ahead of the rest of the world.

The reason for his self-imposed secrecy was because of an encounter he experienced two years after he was first tested for his genius. Yuji encountered a supernatural being, a mischievous yet rather friendly fox spirit. When he told his parents and teachers about the encounter they merely thought it was a child's overactive imagination, especially since the fox spirit disappeared not long after Yuji first met it. Further one teacher went on to say that the fox spirit could not exist because there was no scientific proof of such creatures. Since that day Yuji dedicated his life to proving that such beings did in fact exist.

Even though he was a genius he was still a child at the time and the fear of rejection stayed with him even now. For this he did not seek public acknowledgement until he had undeniable proof about the supernatural, which was why he kept his true genius and his inventions to himself.

When he joined Miss Hinako's Class it was originally for the same reason Ranma had. The Principle had discovered Yuji's true genius and put him in the class hoping it would motivate him to express that genius. The Principle was in fact correct that Yugi would express his genius in the Class. After witnessing Hinako's technique and her transformation he literally shook with glee for two days. After that he designed and built several devises that would pick up faint energy signatures and over time refined the process to detect what most Martial Artists and several Devil Hunters would call Ki. He had his proof but he needed more. His scientific curiosity made him search for more, especially after he detected other energy sources like Magic and later from Ranma Psionic.

Now he detected the strange energy spike that Hinako detected and was planning to investigate the source. "The source of the energy spike was just over a kilometer from the School," Yuji said into his recorded. "The energy source is similar to other energy sources I have detected but still different enough to be categorized on it's own. I'll need to investigate it up close and bring my more sensitive equipment. I'll head to the source tomorrow after School. On a side note I'll need to ask Father and Mother for an advance on my allowance so I can buy some new fiber optics for the new computer I'm building."

An hour after Ranma left the small ice-cream shop where he took Hinako he returned home. The moment he entered the house he was greeted the sight of some Chinese woman sitting with his Mother and seemed to be enjoying some relaxing tea. "Um hi Mom," he greeted, "You're that Amazon, Perfume, that beat Po…er Genma, right?"

"Yes Ranma she is here to speak about Genma and his debt to her Village," Nodoka answered. "She was here to discuss possible repayments for the damage he caused after you left."

"That took more time then I thought actually," Ranma said. "So did he try and promise me in marriage or something?"

"As a matter of fact yes Warrior," Perfume answered. "I came to Japan in pursuit of him found out this address and started speaking with your Mother a few minutes ago."

"Your Japanese has improved," Ranma pointed out.

"Yes, I took the time to learn your language better after you left," Perfume replied. "It made understanding your Father much better."

"You look like you need something, what is it?" Nodoka asked bring the discussion back to the present.

"Mom I need to talk to you for a minute about something," Ranma said.

"And what is that Ranma?" Nodoka asked.

"You know about my teacher Miss Hinako right?" Ranma asked. Nodoka nodded and Ranma continued, "Well she sensed something strange and according to her freighting at a building not far from School. I think we might want to look into it."

"I see," Nodoka mused. "We'll have to look into that later. For now we must finish our present discussion." Nodoka turned back to the Amazon, "Now, Perfume, where were we?"

"You were telling me that any debt your former Husband made is no longer any business of you're Clan," Perfume answered.

"Ah yes," Nodoka said. "Genma has made several illegal and dishonorable acts, including arranging marriages and not keeping the arrangement, and because of this he has been cast out of our Clan. Like so many other people he has deceived any act he has committed against you is now solely his responsibility."

"As Ranma, nor any other member of you Clan not committed any crimes against our Village I doubt the Elders will make any objections to that," Perfume stated. 'Personally I wouldn't want that fat moron in my Family Either. I would rather face banishment or some other punishment then enforce the Kiss of Marriage if he defeated me.' "Well if you might now where he is I will take my business with him directly."

"He is staying at an old friend of his in Nerima," Nodoka answered. "The name is Tendo Soun Master of the Tendo School of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

"Thank you," Perfume replied. "That will be my next stop then."

"I do make one request," Nodoka spoke up, "One of the Tendo Girls has caught the eye of our Clan Leader and I would like that you try and keep your business with my Ex-Husband away from them."

"Very well," Perfume replied. "If they do not interfere I will not act against them. And if one of them does I'll take it on an individual basis, not as the group."

"Thank you," Nodoka said. She turned to Ranma and he had a confused look. She assumed it was about one of the Tendo's catching Nanami's eye. Nodoka gave Ranma a look that conveyed that she would explain later and Ranma nodded. "Now Ranma would you clean up here while I escort our guest to the door?"

"Sure Mom," Ranma answered and then started picking up the tray and teacups.

At the entrance to the house Perfume spoke up, "Thank you for the tea, it was a wonderful blend."

"You are welcome," Nodoka replied.

"One more thing before I leave," Perfume said. "Many of the Young Warriors in my Village became rather smitten with your Son during his stay. Some of them may come by in the near future. When they do make sure he does not fight them and if he does only to submission not knockout."

"According to our information your Outsider Laws only apply on your Lands," Nodoka replied.

Perfume looked at with newfound respect. To have such information about her isolated Village speaks highly of their ability to gather information. "You are essentially correct," Perfume answered. "But some of our Young Warriors have yet to realize that we are not the center of the World and think only our Laws matter and are ignorant of the complications their actions bring. It is better to try and avoid that problem all together."

"I agree," Nodoka answered. "I shall warn Ranma to be cautious about any new Chinese girls in the area." Perfume nodded and then gave a bow before stepping out of the house. Nodoka returned the bow and waved good-bye to the Amazon.

When she returned to the tearoom she found Ranma waiting for her. "Now about this building…"

The next twenty-four hours passed very quickly for four individuals, Yuji, Ranma, Nodoka and Misago, all for the same reason. All four were going to the same building for the same reason, to investigate some anomaly that had been detected there. Nodoka would meet Ranma and Misago at the school after school and leave for the building from there. Misago was joining them because when entering the unknown one should have all the help one should get. Yuji would leave as soon as the day ended with his scientific equipment to further his evidence of the supernatural.

After school Nodoka was running a little late, she had to stop by the Shrine to pick up Misago's weapon, and this forced Ranma and Misago to wait for her. Yuji had no such delay and went on ahead. When Nodoka finally arrived she handed over Ranma's Chinese Broad Sword, he left it to get it professionally sharpened and Misago's Naginata. "Shall we go?" Nodoka asked.

"Yeah," Ranma answered. "Miss Hinako said the building was about a kilometer that way," Ranma pointed down the street directly across from the School Entrance. "It's an old three story office building that's been abandoned for a couple of years."

"I know that building," Misago said. "It's been condemned and scheduled for demolition."

"At least we won't have to worry about damaging private property incase we get into a fight," Ranma said.

"Let us go then," Nodoka stated heading off down the street with the two teenagers quickly following her.

At the building Yuji was scanning the outside of the building trying to see if there were any traces on the outside before going in. So far he was only detecting residual energy around the outside of the building but his equipment was detecting some stronger energy signature on the inside. 'Well I've learned all I can from out here,' Yuji thought. 'I guess its time to go inside.' Looking for a way it Yuji quickly found one at the back and went inside.

A few minutes later Ranma, his Mother and Misago arrived at the building. Before they entered the trio also scanned the building with their Ki and in Ranma's case his Psionic Senses. All three felt the area was saturated with some kind of energy field. To the three it felt like a mix of Magic, Chi, and Electromagnetic and other various energy sources all mixed into one. Ranma however felt something more. "There's someone in there!" Ranma stated with clear surprise in his voice. "I sense he or she's really curious and full of anticipation. Like he or she is looking for something."

"Can you tell us were they are Ranma?" Misago asked.

"No Empathy doesn't give exact location," Ranma answered. "Just a general feeling and a general location."

"So the only way to know for sure who is in there and where they are is to go in and find out," Nodoka said unwrapping her katana and moving forward.

Inside the building Yuji was making his way to the second floor where his equipment was telling him the source of the energy spike from two days ago originated. As far as he could tell what ever caused the spike had faded but there was still residual energy all over the floor. "I have narrowed down the source of the energy spike's location to ten meters from the stairwell entrance to the second floor. All my scanners tell me that the energy spike is a mixture of several energy sources including the new energy source I detected from my new classmate Saotome Ranma," Yuji spoke into a recorder. "Further this mixture of energy signatures is unlike anything I have every seen before."

Slowly coming up the stairs Ranma, Nodoka and Misago entered the second floor ten minutes after Yuji. So far no of them sensed any other beings, supernatural or otherwise, other than the one they sensed before they came in. They were curious why the person was in the building as much as they wanted to know what was the cause of the mixture of energy sources. "Who ever is in there is close," Ranma said. "I'm not sensing any kind of hostility or anything like that, so I don't think the person is dangerous."

"One can never know Ranma," Nodoka warned. "So we should still proceed with caution." The teenagers nodded and moved through the second floor.

In a bare conference room Yuji was analyzing his readings from the sensors he set up around the room. The conference room was the location of the source and Yuji had set up his sensors in a circle around a central point to cover as many angles as he could. He was looking through his personal computer when a familiar voice startled him, "Yuji, what are you doing here?" Turning around he saw Misago, Ranma and a woman he had not met yet standing just inside the entrance to the conference room.

Several kilometers away a person looked around the city around him with a curious gaze like he had never seen anything like it before. If someone were to look closely they would see the man's eyes were not quite right, like something about them was not quite human yet still held the signs of human-like intelligence.

Author's Note: I fixed the error of Nodoka's name in the last chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

It was after school and Ranma was making his way to the house that Aki and Susan had bought for their stay in this world. Ranma was heading there to talk to them about his latest acutance, Yuji. Though he was learning about modern technology from school, it was not his best subject. But even he could tell that the equipment that Yuji had made was far more advanced then the every day technology everyone else had.

When Ranma, Nodoka, and Misago talked with Yuji in the abandoned building he started to explain how his devises worked. It only took a few seconds for Ranma's eyes to start to glaze over because he could not understand what was being said. What Ranma did understand was that the only people he knew that could possibly rival Yuji's technology were the dimensional travelers he recently met. Ranma also understood that machines of any kind needed to repair work, the number of computer repair stores in any major city was proof of that. With parts of the Cyber-Knight and Cyber-Ronin's bodies being artificial he figured that they needed someone more than a Doctor to repair their injuries. So Ranma took it upon himself to let his new allies that there was someone who had a chance of understanding their cybernetics.

As Ranma passed a park he saw Aki sitting on a bench by a fountain apparently just sitting back and relaxing. She was dressed in red long sleeved shirt and black pants to conceal her cybernetics. With one of his targets so close by Ranma made a quick turn and started walking up to the Cyber-Ronin. When he was a few meters away from her he spoke up to greet her, "Hey Aki."

Aki turned to the familiar voice and saw Ranma coming up next to her. "Hey Ranma what brings you to our area? Anything you need help with?"

"No actually," Ranma answered. "Something that might be of some help to you actually." Aki sat up straighter to better pay attention to Ranma, all the while wondering if he and his family had found a Magic User that could open a Rift to another dimension already. "It has to do with your cybernetics," Ranma continued with Aki feeling slightly disappointed but still very curious, "A couple of days ago my Mom, a friend and I met a guy, Yuji, with technology that was more advanced then the other stuff out there. I don't know if it's anything like yours…"

"But he might be able to help us with maintaining our gear," Aki concluded. "Thanks Ranma, we've been concerned about what would happen if our cybernetics took enough damage to the point where we couldn't fix it ourselves. He might not understand out equipment but it certainly could not hurt to look into it." Aki stood up and stretched a little to get some stiffness out of her organic body parts, she had been sitting still for a couple of hours, before walking up to Ranma. "Come on I need to inform Susan about this and the least I can do is offer you something to drink at our place for bringing this to us personally."

"Thanks," Ranma said walking with Aki out of the park. The pair walked no more then a few a meters when Ranma said, "Not to be rude, but I thought you and Susan were keeping a low profile."

"We are," Aki said. "I know; you're what I'm doing in the middle of a public park in the middle of the day. Well I needed to get out of the house for a bit and get some sun. I have to get out every once and a while other wise I go stir crazy." Ranma nodded in agreement he could never seem himself being stuck in doors all the time.

The two walked towards Aki and Susan's house in comfortable silence. As they neared the house Ranma's Sixth Sense went off and he picked up Aki and jumped away. No more than a half second later a boy Ranma's age landed where the two were previously. "I see you're still good at running away, Ranma!" the boy yelled.

"Friend of yours?" Aki asked sarcastically.

"Some how I doubt it," Ranma said dryly. Ranma settled into a neutral stance called on his See Aura and Empathy and looked at the new arrival. 'Wow that's a lot of anger directed my way!' Ranma thought. 'What did I do to piss this guy? Let's see, no psionic, but it does appear that there's some magical about him though it seems unrefined and not really focused, doesn't look like he's been trained as a Magic User. And unless he's masking his Aura he's weaker than I am.'

Aki looked on sizing up the boy trying to determine his threat level as she took a stance that was modified from a special sword style she practiced called, Zanji Shinjinken-Ryo. The Traditional Samurai and a few Cyber-Samurai of Rifts Earth Japan practiced the sword style. Aki was one of the few Cyber-Samurai, or in her case Cyber-Ronin, that practiced it. The style was a very lethal sword style and so was the modified empty hand style. Aki was aware that lethal force was not used on this Earth when dealing with human opponents. Still there were plenty of non-lethal techniques in the style that could be used to subdue a person.

The boy apparently did not hear Aki and focused on Ranma. He took a red bamboo umbrella off his pack back and then let the back pack drop the ground causing a dent in the pavement, surprising both Ranma and Aki because of the weight that would require. "Because of you Ranma! I've seen Hell!" the boy blindly charged swinging the umbrella in an overhead swing down at Ranma.

Ranma jumped out of the way because his Sixth Sense warned him of greater danger then what one would expect from a bamboo umbrella. To Ranma's and the boy's surprise Aki took this opportunity to grab the hand holding the umbrella and twist the wrist forcing the hand to let go. She then followed up with kick to the back of the boy's knee with her cybernetic leg forcing the boy to the ground and finished with a twisting of the boy's entire arm so that it was pined behind his back. "Alright who are you and why are you attacking Ranma?" Aki questioned.

"Coward!" the boy yelled as he tried to break Aki's grip. He was strong, easily identified by the heavy backpack and the small creator from the umbrella when it hit the pavement after missing Ranma. However as strong as the boy was he was not as strong as Aki's cybernetic grip. "Not only do you run away but you hide behind some girl!"

Aki took this as a slight and tightened her grip causing the boy to wince a little. "I won't ask again," Aki said, her voice cold, the mark of a person who has killed before and is willing to kill again. "Who are you?" Ranma with his Empathy knew that Aki was not going to kill the boy as he felt no intention of killing from her, so he made no move to intervene. Part of Bushido stated to avoid cruelty and to Aki this meant killing a helpless opponent. At the moment the boy was completely at her mercy, at best she would simply knock the boy out. A cold forceful voice that many would mistake for deadly could get information out of prisoner very easily.

"Hi…Hibachi Ryouga," he answered. He was afraid at this point. The person who held him was stronger than he was, a very rare occurrence, had him in submissive lock and to Ryouga at least was willing to kill him.

"Ryouga?" Ranma questioned. "From Junior High?" Ryouga nodded to the question. "Why are you attacking me?"

"Like you don't know!" Ryouga snapped. This made Aki tighten her grip a bit more causing Ryouga to wince a little.

"Answer him," Aki ordered.

"I challenged you to a fight and you never showed up!" Ryouga said. "I swore I would hunt you down to get revenge on you for walking out on a Man to Man fight."

'He's telling the truth,' Ranma thought, 'But not the entire truth. He's holding something back.' "You mean the fight where you challenged me to fight you behind your house." Ryouga gave a curt nod. "I waited three days for you to show up and you never did. At the end of the third day Genma dragged me off to China."

"You made a challenge to Ranma and did not show up for it?" Aki asked. "If you ask me you are the coward here not Ranma."

"I got lost," Ryouga growled out. "When I arrived four days later Ranma was gone. He should have waited for me but like a coward ran off."

"Didn't he just say he was dragged off by this Genma? And How does one get lost around their own house?" Aki asked thinking Ryouga was being even more of a coward by making such a pitiful excuse.

"Ryouga has the worst sense of direction you'll ever find," Ranma answered. "Back in Junior High I saw him get lost in room with only one way in or out." Ranma mused for a few second on what he should do. Then he finally decided, "Aki, let him go." Aki looked at him wanting him to explain. "He wants to fight so we'll fight. It might get him off my back." Aki seriously doubted that would happen but obeyed nonetheless.

When Ryouga was free from Aki's grip he rubbed his wrist and glared at Ranma. Once the ache in his wrist was gone he did not waste anymore time and charged Ranma like a maddened bull. Ranma waited until Ryouga was a meter away and then jumped over Ryouga kicking him in between his shoulder blades and caused him to fall face first into the ground. Unlike when Ranma went to the Tendo's, he had decided to just fight Ryouga with only his Martial Arts Skills not his Psionics. Unlike what happened at the Tendo Dojo Ranma considered this a Martial Arts Battle not a some psycho trying to hurt him or fight to the death; he knew from his Empathy that Ryouga was angry bordering hate but Ryouga did not want to kill Ranma. Even now Ranma believed in a fare fight, at least when fighting a Martial Arts dual, and he felt Psionic Powers would give him too much of an advantage.

Ryouga quickly recovered from his fall and stood up and charged once again. This time a bit slower and more cautious so as to not be caught by the same trick. When he was close enough Ryouga gave a powerful right cross that Ranma dodged completely. The follow up front kick yielded the same results. The double punch that came after that also missed. After Ryouga's third strike was dodged he yelled, "Stand still and fight like a man!"

Ranma did not need to his Empathy, which he shut off before the fight, to know that Ryouga was getting angry and thus sloppy. Ryouga had never been good at hiding his emotions and his anger was written all over his face. 'Time to end this,' Ranma thought. He dashed forward and ducked under Ryouga's punch and did something the Lost Boy never expected, Ranma grabbed Ryouga's arm and performed a near identical technique that Aki used just a few minutes ago. The difference was instead of positioning Ryouga into a lock Ranma maneuvered him into a position for a powerful shoulder through. Ryouga's next sensation was flight as he sailed through the air and crashed landed five meters down the street.

Ryouga stood again only this time Ranma had not waited for him to get up. Ranma was in Ryouga's face in just a couple of seconds and started to rain down punches all over to Ryouga's upper body and then finished his assault with a jump-spinning heal kick to Ryouga's face sending him tumbling down the street. Before life changing events in the past three and a half months Ranma would have never fought like he was now. He would only fight at the person's skill level and would often toy with them. Afterwards with life and death battles and many discussions with Jake Ranma no longer held back on his skill. Ranma still believed in fighting fairly, but would fight more efficiently. That meant no wasted effort, movement or tactics; now Ranma fought like a seasoned fighter and not some kid playing a game. Ranma's earlier dodging was a brief test to measure Ryouga's speed, reach, and reaction time. Strength and endurance, Ranma was already aware of from the seeing what happened with Ryouga's pack and umbrella. After judging Ryouga's abilities Ranma came up with a plan to end the fight quickly and efficiently.

Ryouga was not expecting Ranma to fight like this. When in Junior High Ranma would often drag a fight out, and that would actually give Ryouga an edge, for Ryouga always had the better endurance and stamina. This was why in Junior High the boy's fights were pretty close. Ranma was far more skilled but Ryouga could keep the fight going. So when Ranma would tire and get less coordinated Ryouga would still be fighting at the same pace. Now Ranma wanted to end his fights as quickly and with as little energy waist as possible. The last thing he needed was to be tired if some Oni or other supernatural enemy attacked when he was too tired to fight. The strong, quick, and extremely accurate blows from Ranma quickly overwhelmed Ryouga's defenses and the fight only lasting five minutes instead of close to a half an hour.

After Ryouga did not get up for several seconds and was moaning in pain, Ranma relaxed as Aki approached. "He's beaten," Aki said simply. "Are you going to heal him or are we going to take him to a Doctor?"

"Both," Ranma answered. "I'll heal him a little and then we'll take him to a Doctor. This way if he get's up and leaves the Doctor's office because he get's lost he will still be in good enough shape to take care of himself."

"Fine by me," Aki said.

Ranma knelt down and applied his Increased Healing so Ryouga would recover faster. After that he picked the Lost Boy up and had Aki direct him to a local Doctor's Office. After a quick trip and brief explanation Ranma and Aki continued on their way to their original destination.

While Ranma was away from his Mother's house, Nodoka was having her meeting. Her guest was Misago's Father Aihara Noboyuki. He was dressed in nice suit, was slightly overweight and looked like he worked too much like many Japanese men. His had no real distinguishing features other than several worry lines around his eyes and on his head. If one were unfamiliar with what his daughter was training to become many would believe the source of those worry lines had to do with his job. The truth was the worry lines came as a result from worrying about his daughter and what her life was leading too.

"Thank you for seeing me Ms. Saotome," Noboyuki said.

"It is no trouble at all Mr. Aihara," Nodoka replied as she poured the tea. "I have only know Misago for a few weeks I can tell she is a very lovely young lady, in that short time she has become like a member of my family to me. And any member of her family is most welcome among us."

"Thank you for your kind words Ms. Saotome about my daughter," Noboyuki replied. He took a sip of his tea to gather his thoughts about what he was going to bring up. Once he set his tea down he spoke again. "It is because of my daughter that I have come, or more accurately my daughter's future." Nodoka did not speak but her eyes showed curiosity. "I know from my own experience that it is often difficult to become involved in a serious relationship with someone that part of your profession. I myself took a long time to come to terms when my wife revealed her families past to me." He sighed at the memory but forged ahead, "I saw what my indecision did to my wife and I would rather not my daughter go through with that."

By now Nodoka understood what her guest was trying to say, "And the best way is to be involved with someone who is already involved with the Supernatural."

"Yes," Noboyuki said. "I understand your Clan practices arranged marriages and your Son, Ranma has recently returned home."

"You wish to have an arranged marriage between Misago and Ranma," Nodoka said. Noboyuki nodded. "It is true that we practice arranged marriages but there are complications. Do to some bad experiences with some previous arranged marriages my Son is rather reluctant to be engaged to anyone at the moment."

"I understand," Noboyuki said. "I can't do much to help Misago in her training because I do not have the ability, but I can try to help her be happy." He paused briefly to gather his thoughts. "We do not see each other much anymore what with her staying at your family Shrine and my work schedule but when I do get to see her she always speak very highly of your family and well I…"

"I understand Mr. Aihara, you want your child to be happy." Nodoka politely stopped Noboyuki. She could see he was become distressed and made to interrupt before the stress continued. "But perhaps with a little encouragement they may become more interested than just friends."

Noboyuki smiled a little at that, "Yeah maybe they could."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

At the Tokyo Docks a private boat with Chinese markings on it pulled up to one of the vacant slips. After a few minutes a half dozen teenage girls disembarked from the ship. As they left one with green wavy hair, black eyes and wearing a purple pastel dress started to speak in an obscure dialect of Mandarin to the others. "The first thing we should do is find Pa Fum," she said. "She knows where he is."

"But we don't know where she is," another girl, this one with maroon hair with odangos, purple eyes and wearing a shiny blue pants suit stated. "This place is almost seems bigger then Hong Kong."

"Elder Toa Al said Pa Fum's last letter said she was heading to a place called the Tendo Dojo in a place called Nerima," a third girl mentioned. She had long black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a ruby red dress.

"That means we need to ask for directions," the fourth girl stated. She was dressed in purple pants suit, and had blue eyes and short brown hair. She turned to the fifth girl who was searching a black travel bag she was carrying for something. "That means you're going to have to ask for directions Shoa Wor."

Shoa Wor, a long purple haired girl with red eyes wearing black pants and a green shirt and was a couple of years older then the others, smiled as she brought her hand out of the bag holding five Chinese Passports. "Yeah I know," she said. "That's why I came isn't it, to translate for you four. I already have a husband after all so I'm not interested in the boy. Now here are your passports, hang on to them."

"Why do we need these things anyway?" the forth girl asked.

"We're not in the Village anymore," Shoa Wor stated. "The laws are different here and we are expected to obey the laws, so that means you need these Passports." The four younger girls grumbled about how the outsider laws were stupid and inferior to the Village Laws as they took the Passports. Shoa Wor shook her head because she knew from personal experience that that kind of attitude would get them into trouble. Another reason she was the escort for this little Hunt was because she searcher for her own husband outside of the Village and thus had experience. Usually an Elder would have accompanied the girls but there were rumors that the Musk on the move and all the Elders may be needed in the Village incase of an attack. 'I wonder if their attitude will change as fast as mine did when their thrown into a reinforced concrete cell for destruction of private property. Bakusai Tenketsu doesn't work on modern prison cells. Well hopefully I can keep them out of trouble at least until we find Pa Fum. Once we do they'll be her problem and I can get back to Lin Qui.'

Ranma stared at the small fireball that floated a couple of centimeters above his right hand. The flame was a result of his newest offensive Psionic Power, Pyrokinesis. This was yet another added bonus from his Mind Melter heritage that came when he progressed into the next level of his Psi-Warrior training, Opening his Mind's Eye. The powers of this latest stage were mostly of the sensitive nature but they gave a greater understanding of the world around him.

Ranma had no doubt that he would need this new sensitivity in the future. It seemed only to be a matter of time until the next supernatural evil or just plan human evil, Ranma had stopped a few normal crimes in the past couple of weeks, reared its head. But for now he would enjoy peace.

After extinguishing the fireball Ranma stood up and exited his room with his Chinese Broad Sword. He was heading to meet his Mother for a workout session. Ranma had started sparring with her not long after he moved in. Moving through the house into the backyard Ranma looked on his Mother's face. Ranma did not need his Empathic or for that matter his recent Telepathic abilities to know that his Mother was going to enjoy their sparring session. For they both knew that she would come out the victor.

Ranma had become quite good in swordsmanship but his Mother was a Master and had decades of experience in life and death situations. Ranma was an incredibly fast learner and often unpredictable but it would still be years before he could defeat his Mother in pure swordsmanship.

"Good Morning Ranma," Nodoka greeted.

"Morning Mom," Ranma returned.

"Once you get warmed up we'll begin," Nodoka said.

Ranma nodded and began to stretch out and then perform some warm up katas with his Chinese Broad Sword. Today the Mother and Son were going to perform a dual person kata with their real blades. This was to help with team working in pairs so their attacks would be more coordinated. After the fight with the Bone Oni the both talked and analyzed the tactics they used. Both Mother and Son were used to fighting alone and that can be a liability in fighting in a group. Now they practice tandem katas and spar each other regularly so each knows what to expect from the other.

After Ranma was finished with his warm up moved over near Nodoka and prepared for their practice. Ranma and Nodoka bowed to each other and then both went into a guard position facing each other. Nodoka in a high front stance with her katana raised up at a forty-five degree arch with the point towards her back and the edge up. Ranma stood in a low back stance with his sword also above his head but completely horizontal with the edge up and the point of sword towards the front, his right hand on the handle and his left supporting the blade.

This was an original kata designed by Nodoka and Ranma for the Chinese Broad Sword and the Japanese Katana. With Ranma's vast knowledge of techniques and Nodoka's experience coming up with a kata that would incorporate the two different styles of the weapons was not hard. The true difficulty came in performing the kata. Because they both agreed to perform with their real blades, in order to give the practice as much realism as possible, they had to be extra careful in order to avoid serious injury. To this end their moves were slow and methodical, making sure no mistake was made.

Ranma began with a slow concentrated downward diangle slash across his body right to left and followed by a step forward as he brought his sword into a circular downward cut towards Nodoka. Nodoka meanwhile stepped back and to avoid the diangle slash then brought her katana into a high block to block the downward cut. Both then turned one hundred and eighty degrees so their backs to one another and performed the next series of strikes. Ranma continued with his fluid movements with an upward slash followed by a horizontal cut to the left and immediately followed by a another horizontal cut back to the right. Nodoka proceeded with her precise planer cuts in her own three move combination; a forward stab that was immediately followed by a straight vertical upward slash and continued still with a shifting of her hands and bringing her katana down into a stab at the ground. Another turn each to the right so they were facing opposite direction and once again they continued with time the same techniques but the difference in their finite details that are needed for their personal swords. A block to an imaginary strike from the left, the right hand sliding up the blade to brace against the blade then a side step to the right and downward slash to the imaginary off balance opponent's neck. A quick rotation to the left so they were facing each other once again. Nodoka taking the lead this time with an upward slash from below with Ranma blocking and a counter of a rotational twist changing into a horizontal slash at the head. Nodoka stepped back to dodge the slash and thrust out with her end of the handgrip to Ranma's head. He ducked and spun his blade into upward diangle cut from the left and followed by a second from the right. Nodoka avoided the first and blocked the second ending the exercise with both blades locked between the two bodies. After a brief moment of inactivity the two brought their blades to their rest position, Nodoka's at her side as it would in a Diasho and Ranma's cradled vertically in his right arm. They bowed to each other and then relaxed. Because of the slow movements this simple kata took five minutes to complete. It was but one of five the Mother and Son had come up with and it was only the beginning of their tandem training.

Two hours later Nodoka and Ranma completed their fifth and final kata and were kneeling towards one another with their swords at their sides. "I believe our movements have become good enough that the next time we practice we can move at least one quarter of our normal speeds," Nodoka stated.

"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "We know the patterns pretty well and the only way to progress at this point is to speed up. We'll probably need train extensively at one-quarter speed, any faster at this point and we will probably make a mistake. That mistake could be…"

"Deadly," Nodoka finished feeling no need to mince words with her Son. Ranma nodded in agreement. "Now that we are finished I need to bring up another matter that concerns us."

"What's that Mom?" Ranma asked.

"I have received word from family friends that some of the families that Genma promised you to are have found out where you are and will be coming here," Nodoka answered. Ranma scowled at the thought of seeing his Father again. Before he could say anything Nodoka continued, "Now all of them have no legal or honorable claim on you as we have paid off whatever amount Genma took as a dowry."

"Then what's the problem?" Ranma asked.

"Some of the families are very stubborn and have not taken 'No' for an answer," Nodoka answered. "Some have even gone as swearing vengeance against you for Genma's deeds."

"Why are they swearing vengeance on me?" Ranma asked. "I didn't do anything to them, at least I don't think I did anything. And didn't you say that Genma's actions are his own now that you divorced him."

"That is correct, and you have not done anything to any of those families," Nodoka replied. "The reason they swore revenge on you is because they are afraid to go after Genma."

"Why would they be afraid of him?" Ranma asked.

"Remember Ranma, Genma is a formidable Martial Artist and to people of lesser ability the risk of trying to seek vengeance of him is too much effort," Nodoka explained. "While you are most likely far above Genma, especially with your Psionic Powers, they don't know that. So they are going for the target they think will easier, you."

"In other words they're a bunch of cowards," Ranma said. "Sounds like the kind of people that Genma would associate with. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"I am afraid so Ranma," Nodoka said. "One of the families that swore vengeance on you is the Kuonji Family."

"U…Uc-chan?" Ranma asked. He thought for a moment of the last time he saw his first friend. "The yattai!" Ranma seethed. "Genma stole it and told me it was a gift! That must be it! Uc-chan's Dad must have sworn vengeance because he…we stole their livelihood!"

"That is only part of it Ranma," Nodoka said. "Technically Genma stole the yattai and technically it was a gift as well. Mr. Kuonji gave Genma the yattai, as a dowry."

"Dowry?" Ranma asked. "Genma engaged me to a boy?"

"Ranma, Ukyou's a girl," Nodoka said flatly.

"Gi…girl?" Ranma squeaked. "Oh…crap."

"We do like to get the police involved in our problems, they ask far to many questions we like to answer," Nodoka said. "So we must handle the more stubborn families our selves. Considering that they are cowards as you summarized we feel a sufficient show of physical force will run them off."

"Yeah I can see that," Ranma said a bit absently. "But what about Uc-chan? I don't want to hurt him, I mean her; she was my friend."

"You wish to handle the Kuonji matter yourself?" Nodoka asked. Ranma nodded not knowing what to say exactly. "Very well Ranma I will leave it to you." After a brief pause Nodoka added, "But if you need any help, do not hesitate to ask."

"I won't Mom," Ranma assured.

At the Tendo Dojo Nabiki was pondering certain events that had been happening around the city. From the day she spoke with Saotome Nanami she had been making discreet inquiries into the strange happenings that occurred around Tokyo trying to get a feel for what kind of information control was used when dealing with the supernatural. On the surface, everything was just as various press releases said was true. Others were just cover-ups. A few dealt with Yakuza and other criminal activities, Nabiki steered clear of those, and others the cover-ups were not so noticeable. Most people would have bought the stories but Nabiki knew what too look for and even then she could not find concrete evidence of supernatural involvement. All Nabiki could really find were cases of 'Unknown gas leeks,' 'Mysterious illnesses,' and other 'Unexplainable happenings.' The most recent and prevalent unknown occurrences were the sightings of the some armored people a couple of districts over; Nabiki had already made a note to investigate these sightings herself in the near future.

Considering that some of the incidents caught national and in rare occasions international attention in the press Nabiki was very impressed with the amount of information control that implied to cover the occurrences up. Needless to say Nabiki was feeling just a bit outclassed. What did raise her spirits however was the fact that she was able to find even some information that even many professional investigators could not did up. Still Nabiki knew she had a long ways to go before she would impress someone like Saotome Nanami.

At the moment Nabiki was going over some reports her underlings have given her on some strange occurrences that happened around Nerima. The closer to her family the more aware Nabiki felt she should be, just in case something was dangerous. Being that Nerima seemed to attract the unusual even without factoring the supernatural, it was understandable that Nabiki had several reports to go over. 'I bet the girls think I'm just looking for information to use as blackmail,' Nabiki thought. 'Well they're right, just not entirely right.' Nabiki was looking over a report saying that some members of Furinkan were up to some rather strange and embarrassing activities. She put those reports into a pile designated, 'Everyday Business.' In another pile, this one much smaller and labeled 'future possibilities,' there were reports of strange happenings that did not seem to have a human source.

Reading the report Nabiki stuck a piece of candy in her mouth in thought. 'Let's see Sakura has reported that an increasing number of people around the market district have been bothered by strange gaijin wandering around asking all sorts of odd questions. The odd thing is this person seems to disappear and reappear at random.' Nabiki scanned more of the report and found another part that caught her interest, 'The gaijin has also bee seen around Furinkan watching Akane's fights and asking the boys 'is attack a potential mate common in this place?'

Nabiki put down the report and looked up at the ceiling for a bit, "I remember that guy," she said to herself. "When Matoko directed to me and I asked for some money on the situation he looked at me like he had no concept of money. Would a supernatural being have a concept of money?"

'What's money?' a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere asked with more than a hint of naiveté.

"Huh?" looked around trying to find the source of voice but could not find anyone around. "Am I going crazy?"

'I don't think so,' the voice said. 'So are you going to tell me what money is?'

"Um why do you want to know?" Nabiki whispered. She got up from her desk and started to search her room looking for some kind of speaker or something.

As Nabiki moved aside her covers and checked her pillowcase the voice laughed a little, 'You're pretty funny. But not as funny as 'Akane' is thought.'

"How do you know about Akane?" Nabiki asked now looking through her closet.

'Everyone around here talks about her,' the voice answered. 'What are you looking for?'

"I'm trying to find out how you're talking to me and then I'll find you," Nabiki answered now looking around her room's light fixture.

'So you want to see me?' the voice asked.

"Yes," Nabiki asked standing in the middle of her room trying to figure out where to look next.

'I'm right next to you,' the voice said happily.

Nabiki turned to her left and saw a floating mass of bluish-white energy only a few centimeters from her head, "AAAHHH!"


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.

Ranma opened his mind's eye and looked around the mental dojo. He was here to talk with Jake about an idea he had. He wanted to know if it was possible to combine the effects of two different Psionic Powers. The inspiration came from his science show he was watching out of boredom one day. The topic of the program was cause combustion and explosions. This particular segment caught his attention because of his recently acquired pyrokinetic powers. The program explained the basics of making a fire; fuel, oxygen, and ignition, and then it said that to have an explosion the fire must be in a contained structure for the pressure to build. Once the pressure exceeded the container's structural integrity it would cause the explosion. If he could replicate this using his psionics it would give him a powerful technique and open up the possibility for others using his Psionic Powers.

When he spotted Jake, the mental persona had a thoughtful look on his face. Ranma knew that Jake was thinking over the possibilities of what he thought as Jake knew what Ranma knew. As Ranma approached Jake looked at him, "It has possibilities." Ranma smiled thinking what he could do with this opportunity. "Before you get ahead of yourself you should know that there will be difficulties. Like the 'Pyrokinetic Bomb' you are thinking about. The problem is to compress the Fire Ball to cause an explosion would be hard with Telekinesis as the fire is for this instance immaterial and you need a physical object as the focus for Telekinesis. You might be able use the Telekinetic Force Field after you progress and create a bubble around the Fire Ball. But the problem with that is the smallest Force Field you can create has an are of about meter. You would have to work out how to shape it right to make the bubble small enough. And the final problem is the time it would take to concentrate enough to combine the powers. It would take a couple of minutes at least, not really viable in the heat of battle."

"Well even if I can't use when I'm fighting I might be able to use it outside of a fight," Ranma said. "Take an enemy by surprise, weaken their forces then fight them."

"Hmm, good idea," Jake agreed. "Good to see your Mom's and my lessons in tactics and strategy are paying off. If you were still with Genma you would never have thought of a fight before you actually fought unless it was a direct challenge."

"And that don't work when fighting enemies that I can face as a Psi-Warrior," Ranma said. "Anyway thanks for the advice I'm already thinking of other ways to use my powers to perform different techniques."

"Just be careful with that speed technique you're thinking about," Jake warned. "Using Telekinetic Acceleration on small objects scattered around you is one thing. Using it on your own body parts could be extremely dangerous. You did not have to worry about Telekinetic Punch causing a shoulder dislocation or muscle pull because of your Martial Arts Training. But using Telekinetic Acceleration is a whole order of magnitude more dangerous; the strain could possibly rip your arm or leg off, just like any Mega Damage attack can. To even attempt such an act you would have to train your body like you never have before."

"Any idea how I could do that?" Ranma asked.

"Nope, I just know the possible consequences if it back fires," Jake confessed.

"I'll have to be on the look out for the right training then," Ranma mutter. "Well I'll see you later Jake."

"Bye Ranma," Jake waved.

Ranma opened his eyes and glanced at the clock, taking note that he was only in his Meditation for fifteen minutes this time. 'Mom should still at Great Grandma's Shrine so I'm own my own for a while. I hope the news she tells Mom is good. I want to get it over with as soon as possible.'

At the Saotome Shrine, Nodoka was talking with Nanami about Ranma; or to be more specific the upcoming cleansing of his Neko-ken. This was very important to everyone in the Saotome Family and they all wanted done as soon as possible. The problem was organizing all of the people needed was hard in most cases. Simply contacting the necessary people was a chore, arranging for them to come at a specific place and time was even worse. Even with the Saotome Clan's considerable contacts around the Supernatural the Cleansing took weeks arrange. "Well everything has been arranged," Nanami said. "The ritual will take place next week."

"That is good to hear," Nodoka replied. "Who will be attending?"

"Monks Okwara, Shinbo and Horie," Nanami said. "Master Mage Amagasaki, Sorceress Toko and Chief Sterling."

Nodoka blinked at the last name in slight confusion, "A Westerner? Why such high level people?"

"Chief Sterling is a half Native American Apache and a quite the expert on Animal spirits, he came highly recommended by the other two," Nanami answered. "Subsequently we had to pay for his plane tickets and duration of stay as part of the deal. And the reason for such high level practitioners is because I don't want anything to go wrong. Call being an over protective Great Grandmother but I don't want to take any chances."

"I could not agree more," Nodoka nodded. "If that is all I should be heading back it is getting to be late afternoon."

"There is one more thing," Nanami spoke up. "I received a call yesterday from Tendo Nabiki. She has apparently run into a Supernatural Creature. It is rather harmless, if a bit mischievous."

"Is it a disguised Kitsune (Fox-spirit)?" Nodoka asked.

"No, I am not sure what it is in all honesty," Nanami answered. "Miss Tendo described it as a glowing ball of blue light that could take any shape it wanted, highly curious and apparently has strong psionic powers."

"You wish Ranma to look into this," Nodoka said with a slight frown. "He will not like dealing with the Tendo's as he will also have to deal with Genma."

"I am aware of that," Nanami said with a sigh. "And while I can't force Ranma to do this he would be the best choice. With his Psionic Powers and access to Jake's knowledge in the Psionic part of the Supernatural, he is the best choice." Nanami paused for a moment to see Nodoka's reaction. Nodoka gave a slight nod seeing the logic behind Nanami's argument but it was easy to tell she did not like it. To be honest Nanami did not like anymore then Nodoka did, but as a Devil Hunter sometimes one had to do things that did not always like. Still maybe they can keep Genma from knowing, "I can probably arrange a meeting away from the Tendo Dojo the creature apparently likes to stay around Nabiki. She could probably convince it to come with her."

"That would probably help," Nodoka said. "I shall tell Ranma as soon as I get back home and see what he wants to do."

"That is all we can really do," Nanami replied. She like the rest of the Saotome Clan still felt guilty about letting Genma take Ranma away. She too felt that she did not have a right to demand much of anything from him.

"I shall call you once he decides what he wants to do," Nodoka said as she stood up. "Good-bye Grandmother."

"Good-bye Granddaughter," Nanami returned.

A few hours later Nodoka finally made it home. It took so long for her to return home due to problems with the train, as a result Ranma got too hungry to wait and ended up ordering out. Fortunately Ranma had progressed far enough in the social graces that he ordered enough food for his Mother (an impossibility not too long ago). And after a couple of quick apologies from both, Ranma for not being able to wait and Nodoka for taking so long to get home, they sat down at the table and had a quiet meal.

When dinner was finished Nodoka approached the subject that she knew that Ranma would not like. "Ranma, do you remember me saying that one of the Tendo Girls had caught the eye of Grandmother?" Nodoka asked.

"Um yeah," Ranma said. "It was the middle one right?"

"Yes it was," Nodoka replied. "Well it appears that she has come into contact with a supernatural entity. The being is apparently harmless but has displayed several abilities that appear to be Psionic in nature."

"And Great Grandma wants me to check it out," Ranma deduced.

"Ranma I know you are a bit…reluctant, to head to the Tendo Dojo but…" Nodoka began.

"But with my Psionic Powers I'm the best suited for the job," Ranma finished. Truth be told Ranma was more than reluctant to even step into Nerima. The farther he was away from Genma and anyone associated with him the better.

Seeing her Son's distress, Nodoka spoke up; "We could arrange to meet somewhere other than the Dojo, if you decided to go that is. Grandmother said that the final decision is up to you on this."

Ranma sat in silence for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. "I'll go Mom," Ranma finally said. "As you said I'm the best for the job and I can't avoid something like this just because Genma might be there. Besides it's not like I'm afraid of the old Fat Panda."

"Very well Ranma," Nodoka said with a smile. "I'll call Grandmother and let her know. When would you like to take care of this?"

"Let's do it tomorrow," Ranma said. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"I agree," Nodoka nodded, "The sooner this is taken care of the better." She then decided a bit of good news was needed, "Also I would like to tell you that Grandmother has made the necessary arrangements to deal with the Neko-ken."

Ranma, who had been feeling a bit of irritation at the idea of possibly dealing with Genma and his friend Tendo Soun, perked up. "Really?" Ranma asked, his mother nodding yes to answer. "Finally, I can get rid of that!" Ranma said with a great deal of enthusiasm. "When will it happen?"

"It has been arranged for next week," Nodoka answered.

"Ok," Ranma said. 'I'm glad I can finally get rid of the Neko-ken. The neighbor's c…c…ca…ca, furry thing, almost drove me to the other side of the district if it wasn't for my Suppress Fear.'

At the Tendo Dojo the next day Nabiki was eagerly waiting for breakfast to end so she could go meet with Ranma and Nodoka. Nanami had talked to her the night before informing her that they would be coming by and that they would meet at Furinkan High School to avoid dealing with Genma and her Father. This was official business as and the two fools would only interfere with meeting. Nabiki in her honest opinion agreed with the plan. She knew the trouble her over emotional father could cause on his own and Genma only seemed to make his already bad reasoning skills even worse. In fact it seemed that ever since Genma arrived Soun had become, for lack of a better term, more stupid then before the fat man's arrival.

After she finished her breakfast Nabiki got up and headed for the door. "Nabiki," Kasumi called stopping the Middle Tendo at the door. "Where are you going so early?" Kasumi was a bit confused and concerned because Nabiki never got up early on a Sunday unless something was bothering her. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine Kasumi," Nabiki answered. "I just have some business I need to take care of today. Nothing you need to worry about."

"If you say so," Kasumi said with a bit of worry still in her voice.

"I'll see you later Kasumi," Nabiki said one last time before leaving the house.

Once Nabiki was out of the house Genma-Panda and Soun made their way to the shogi board for another round of cheating they called playing. After the first set of bad moves Genma-Panda was wondering what he could use as a distraction to change the board around. Not to be one to be able to think up complex plans Genma-Panda held up a sign saying, "What is that!?" and pointed outside.

Soun being the gullible, overemotional fool he was turned to see what his old friend was pointing at. What he saw truly confused him, a glowing blue sphere of light floating just above the other wall, "I don't know Saotome," Soun said. "I've never seen anything like that."

Genma-Panda had just finished taking three tiles when Soun turned back around, "Huh" his sign said. He leaned over the shogi board, just incase it was an Anything Goes Shogi Game Counter Technique that Soun was pulling, to see what Soun was talking about.

As the two leaned out to get a better look they overheard a familiar voice apparently speaking to the glowing ball of blue light. "Yes they're friendly and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun after you meet them."

"That sounds like Nabiki," Soun muttered leaning farther to hear more.

"Well you're right, I haven't met both of them but Ranma was nice when I met him," Nabiki said. "Come on I'm sure you'll like him." There was a small bout of silence before Nabiki spoke again. "Oh and you had better change into something other than that, we don't want to scare anyone." There was another bout of silence and Nabiki spoke up once again, "Well funny or not it will just be easier to get around if you looked like something more normal, so just do it."

Genma-Panda turned to his friend and held up another sign, "Did you hear?" he flipped the sign, "She said Ranma."

"That I did Saotome," Soun said barely restraining tears of joy. "Nabiki has found your Son, WAH!!!!" the tears gushed out like they were from a fireman's hose.

Genma-Panda held up another sign, "Let's go!" flip of the sign, "If we hurry we can have the wedding by tonight!"

"You're right Saotome!" Soun coming out of his crying fit, "Let us be off!"

At Furinkan High School Nodoka and Ranma were waiting for Nabiki to show up. Both had their highly attuned senses activated just incase of a surprise. They had only been waiting for a few minutes when Nabiki arrived with a small dog trotting beside her. Or at least it looked like a dog, their other sense beyond the normal five were telling the Mother and Son that this thing was most certainly not a dog.

With Ranma's See Aura activated he could tell that the creature approaching him was practically radiating Psionic Energy. 'Mom, Great Grandma was right this, being has a lot of Psionic Power,' Ranma Telepathically thought to his Mother.

'Oh Wow a human with Telepathy!' another almost childlike telepathic thought yelled into the three human's minds. 'I've heard of people like you! Are you from Psyscape? Do you visit there a lot? What's the Psynex like? Is it as friendly as I've heard?'

"Whoa slow down!" Ranma said. As he had not detected anything other than immense curiosity and some playfulness Ranma judged the creature disguised as a dog was pretty harmless and it was ok to talk to it. "And no I'm not from Psyscape its in another dimension, I don't go there nor do I know how and I don't know what the Psynex is like."

'Ahh, I that's no fun," the creature pouted as it transformed back into a glowing ball of energy.

"I guess calling you guys was the right thing to do after all," Nabiki said. "So do you know what this thing is, Ranma?"

"Not a clue," Ranma admitted as he followed the ball of light as it floated around him and his Mother. "So what are you?"

'The others said the humans calls us, Amorph,' the being answered. 'Nabiki said you'd be a lot of fun, is that true?'

"Um well I guess I can be fun," Ranma answered with some confusion.

'Then I'm going with you!' the Amorph said. 'The others said that they had a lot of fun being around a human with Psionic Powers!'

"I guess that's ok, if you don't mind Mom," Ranma said a little unsure what he should do.

"I do not see a problem with this, um Amorph coming with us," Nodoka replied. Nodoka was rather curious about the Amorph. She had never seen a creature quite like this one and wanted to know more about it. Allowing it to come with them would be the easiest way to learn.

Before any other conversation could take place a pair of blurs rushed up to them, stopping just a few centimeters away from Ranma. "Boy! How dare you run off like that!" Genma yelled. He had stolen a mug of hot tea from an old man while following Nabiki at a safe distance. He and Soun had not heard a bit of the conversation as they were to far away, not that they would care if they did. Once they say Ranma all other thoughts had left their tiny minds. "Oh what have I done to have such a dishonorable Son," Genma blubbered with obviously fake tears.

"Ranma you must restore your Family Honor by marring one of my girls right away," Soun joined in trying to convey a wise and stoic visage. "I am aware that visiting your Mother's grave must have been…"

Soun was cut off by a katana at his throat and a female voice from behind, "Now what or rather who gave you the idea that I was dead Mr. Tendo?" Nodoka asked. Nodoka had brought her Katana just incase the Amorph was not as friendly as Nabiki described

Hearing the all too familiar, and freighting, voice Genma finally became aware of his surroundings and noticed Nodoka was with his Son, "No…Nodoka," Genma stuttered. He was quickly trying to think of a way to get out of this, or rather which lie he would use. "Oh thank the Kami that you're alive. I have been so…" Genma's rather pathetic lie was cut off by a Chinese Broad Sword to his neck.

"Don't even try it," Ranma said pressing his sword into Genma drawing a tiny amount of blood.

"As you are still here Genma I must assume that Ms. Perfume of the Chinese Amazons has not spoken with you yet," Nodoka said. The news that the Amazons were looking for him caused Genma to tremble. "Since you are here I might as well inform you that we are now divorced and you have been cast out of the Saotome Clan and all your past deeds are now your own. Also any promises you made in the Saotome name no longer apply, not that they did in the first place." Nodoka then turned her attention back to Soun, "And that includes your promise as well Mr. Tendo."

"But honor…" Soun tried to plead but Nodoka put a little pressure on her katana making him shut up.

Genma seeing his retirement fading like the morning mist called up all of his bluster and spoke to his wife, "Woman you cannot…" a lighting fast slice with a sword and the falling of a dirty gi shut him up.

"What was that Genma I did not hear you?" Nodoka asked sweetly. Genma after realizing what happened immediately dropped into the Crouch of the White Tiger and begged for mercy in nothing but his boxer shorts. With a discussed voice Nodoka spoke again, "And further if you ever set foot on Saotome land or use the name you will hunted down and punished most severely. And for your past actions you will not have to worry about punishment from the Saotome Clan. I have decided that the Amazons' punishment will be sufficient, I hear that they can be quite creative in their punishment design." She then sheathed her katana and turned to Ranma, "Come along Ranma we must be getting back so you can show our new guest around the area."

"Ok Mom," Ranma said putting away his sword as well. "Come on…um…Amorph lets go."

'Ok!' the Amorph chirped. 'Nabiki was right you are fun!'

Before the Saotome's left Nodoka left the area she turned to Nabiki, "Oh and don't worry about the Amazons Miss Tendo. They will not harm your family, at least as long as you do not interfere." Nabiki nodded at the advice making a mental note to keep an eye on Akane so she does not do anything stupid to any Chinese fighters that might enter the area.

After the Saotome and the Amorph were out of sight Soun came out of his frozen state and reacted as calmly as he would normally in such a situation, "NOW THE SCHOOLS WILL NEVER BE JOINED, WAHHHH!!!!" Nabiki could only shake her head in disgust and embarrassment at her Father. Genma simply remained in the Crouch of the White Tiger until he was sure it was safe to move.


End file.
